As Strong As We Are United
by Lily Smith
Summary: The words of the Great Albus Dumbledore, echoed in the title, seems to be a theme for this one, folks! This is a sequel to "Harry Potter and the Crystal of Gryffindor". You should definately read that one first!
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's.  
  
A/N: This is the sequel to Harry Potter and the Crystal of Gryffindor. It contains several original characters so you should read Harry Potter and the Crystal of Gryffindor before you read this! Happy Reading!  
  
The Title of this story will come into play later on in the story. While I do not believe it is a confusing title, I still think that I should clear this little matter up.  
  
"I say to you once again... we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided... We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust." ~ Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire  
  
I'm sure you're all wondering what happened to Harry and the rest after he vanquished Voldemort. All of you know (if you read the Harry Potter and the Crystal of Gryffindor that is!) that Charlie and Cadance had to move to the Muggle World in order to save their unborn daughter. Their names changed, their appearances slightly altered, they settled into life in the muggle world. But everyone else knew none of this, as they had to stay out of contact with them. They had been hoping that it wouldn't be a long time that they had to stay in hiding, but their hopes would not be recognized.  
  
But for the rest of them, life would go on. Harry, Ron, and Hermione all became Aurors. Ron and Hermione got married. Harry and Ginny got married as well at a young age. For a wedding present, Sirius had Harry's parents' house restored and they moved in. Jen moved into their old house in Godric's Hollow. She and George continued to date.  
  
Sirius had to say goodbye to Wendy again, and he was very upset about it because this time the goodbye seemed to be permanent. The death of the McGradys caused a shift in power with the Elders. All three McGradys were made Elders; that was for sure. This was confirmed for everyone when Wendy's invitation to be an Elder herself arrived via singing telegram. There was some speculation as to whether Dumbledore had been involved, directly or indirectly. Nothing was ever settled, and sometimes late at night when conversation topics run short, the subject would creep up again.  
  
Severus Snape retired (though he wasn't very old) and moved to Albania or Albuquerque or Alaska or something like that. He didn't really keep in touch with anyone, save Cati and that was short-lived as well. Cati, who began to feel as though nothing was keeping her in Hogsmeade or at Hogwarts anymore moved back into Drew's old home. She grew restless and eventually picked up and left and nobody really heard from her again. Bill, too, stopped coming home from Egypt often. He wrote to his brothers and sister and parents often, but he was seldom seen.  
  
Professor McGonagall became the Headmistress of Hogwarts and she had to hire several new teachers. She continued to teach Transfiguration, mostly because the old rumor had resurrected itself; teaching positions at Hogwarts were cursed. She had been lucky enough to find a Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher and a Potions Master; but to hope to find a third replacement teacher was praying for too much. And she wasn't even sure how lucky she was to find the two teachers she did; one had taught at Hogwarts years before and had left after a run-in with Cadance and Cati (thought she did hang in there for a while). The Potions Master was Draco Malfoy.  
  
Hagrid bought himself a share in the company Charlie used to work for. He and Norbert were reunited and Hagrid swore that he'd only stay on teaching until Professor McGonagall could find a suitable replacement, but that she shouldn't hurry because he wasn't about to leave her high and dry when he needed her. She was thankful for that.  
  
Lucius Malfoy somehow wormed his way out of going to jail. He intended on returning home to spend the rest of his life in his luxurious mansion being waited on hand and foot. Unfortunately he returned to find that his wife had spent most of the money on an extensive beanie baby collection. He was forced to take a desk job at the Ministry.  
  
Mrs. Norris caught a mouse. She was very excited because she had never caught one before. Unfortunately, its brother rallied all the mice in the school against her and she spent two nights in the hospital wing.  
  
Nobody ever messed with the House Elves again after they ran the Death Eaters out of the castle.  
  
The Wood Elves in the forbidden forest built up fortifications. However these fortifications weren't against evils of the forest... they were against Cadance and Cati. I guess they didn't get the memo about them leaving.  
  
Kala got tired of having only cameo appearances in this story, so she decided to do something wild and crazy to get herself recognized: She began a karaoke night at her bar and we all know how crazy people are attracted to karaoke! Let's look forward to some fun times at Tipsy's Tavern!  
  
Arabella Figg retired from the Force, but went to the Ministry occasionally to check up on things and have lunch with Arthur, who was considered one of the Greatest Ministers of all time.  
  
Things continued on quite normally for two years... then things got turned upside-down... 


	2. The Sequel Begins

Disclaimer:  I own nothing you recognize as anyone else's!

A/N:  I apologize for a few formatting errors in the first chapter.  This was not my doing, but somewhere between Microsoft Word and Fanfiction.net, the formatting messed up a little.  I believe that will happen often.  If anyone knows how to make all formatting stick when updating, without having GIAGANTIC spaces between paragraphs, please let me know in an email!!!!!!!  Right now, I am just updating as a Microsoft Word Document (.doc).  I've tried saving as a webpage (.htm).  While the formatting stuck, the spacing was weird.  Any help anyone could give me would be appreciated!

Chapter 1 ~ A Sequel

            Harry Potter rolled over in bed and put an arm around his new wife, Ginny.  He had been having the weirdest dream.  He hadn't had any weird dreams that he could recall since he had vanquished Voldemort two years ago.  Okay, well there was that one with Fred in a chicken costume but other than that…

            He sighed.  There was no way he was going to fall asleep now.  He kissed Ginny lightly before getting out of bed and going downstairs.  He opened the door to his back porch and stepped outside.  The sun was just beginning to rise.  Long, eerie shadows were cast up on Godric's Hollow.  He was living in his parent's old home; Sirius had had it fixed up as a wedding present for him and Ginny.  Sirius and Remus lived in their houses across the street.  Jen was currently living in her and Cadance's old house (which was across the street, too).  She was still dating George.

            Cadance…

            Cadance had been in his dream.  What was so weird about it wasn't what was going on in the dream; he couldn't remember that at all.  What was so weird was who were in the dream.  Cadance and Charlie were there; where "there" was, Harry wasn't sure.  The rest of the Weasleys were there as well and so were Sirius, Remus, Jen and Hermione.  But that wasn't all.  Catalin Nuperson, Arabella Figg, Professor McGonagall, and the Dursleys were there as well.

            Now, he saw most of the Weasleys, Sirius, Remus, Jen and Hermione all the time.  He had seen Professor McGonagall at his wedding.  He saw Arabella every once in a while at the Ministry even though she had retired from the Force.  He had also seen her at his wedding.  

            The rest, however, was a different story.  Harry hadn't heard from the Dursleys in years (and he couldn't care less).  Bill, while he was at the wedding, had been conspicuously absent over the last few years.  He rarely came home from Egypt.  Catalin had been invited to the wedding as well, however Hedwig had been unable to find her to get her invitation to her.  She had disappeared shortly after Cadance and Charlie left.

            Cadance and Charlie….

            Something was nagging in the back of his mind.  Charlie and Cadance had left shortly after Voldemort's downfall.  They had gone into hiding to protect their unborn child.  Harry and Ginny had consulted Professor McGonagall who told them that sending them and invitation to their wedding could expose them and ultimately cause the deaths of them and their child.  Cadance had bound her powers; an act that had caused the baby's powers to be bound as well.  Jen had also bound her Sorceress powers.  This did not effect her abilities to create magic with a wand.  

            Harry had not thought abut most of these people in months.  Why in heaven's name could he be dreaming about them?

            The sun had fully risen by now and he could hear Ginny move out onto the porch.  She slipped her arm around his waist and he draped his arms over her shoulders.

            "What's going on, sweetie?" she asked.

            "I don't know, Gin'," answered Harry  "But I'm getting this feeling that something big is coming."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

            About a week later, in a small house in the United States, Jill Smith woke up and rolled over.  She hit the off button on her alarm clock, hit her husband Bob on the head with a pillow, and got out of bed.  She went into the bathroom and started brushing her long black hair.  She rolled it into a low bun.  She went back into her bedroom and opened her closet.  She put on a knee-length black skirt and a white blouse.  She pulled black pumps out of the closet and put them on.  By now, Bob had woken up completely.

            "Morning, sweetie," said Jill.  "I'm going to check on Melinda."

            Jill went into the bedroom of her 15 month old daughter and made sure that she was okay.  She was sleeping soundly.   Then she went towards the kitchen to get breakfast started.

            Suddenly, she felt excruciating pain in her chest and head.  She screamed and slumped against the wall.  Her cries brought her husband from the other room with his shirt untucked and an untied tie around his neck.

            He got to his knees next to her.  "Are you okay?!" he asked hurriedly.

            "No, Charlie, I'm not," she answered.

            Her husband looked at her, half with worry and half with confusion at being addressed by that name.

            Because Bob and Jill Smith were really Cadance and Charlie Weasley.

            Suddenly out of nowhere, a demon popped in.  He growled menacingly.  As a reflex, triggered by instincts that had been kept at bay for 2 years, she pulled her arm back and threw it forward.  A fireball appeared and the demon burst into flames and disappeared.

            Cadance and Charlie stared with wide eyes at the spot where the demon had been.  Cadance finally snapped out of her trance-like state when Charlie started talking.  "Alright.  So.  We can just pick up and move.  We can do this again.  Don't worry, Melinda will be fine.  We won't let anything happen to her."

            "Charlie, I don't think so," said Cadance.

            "We can't stay here, Cadance," said Charlie.  "They found us."

            "Charlie I just blew up that demon!" exclaimed Cadance.  "My powers are supposed to be bound!"

            "So what do you propose we do?" asked Charlie.

            "Charlie, I get the feeling that something is wrong back home," said Cadance.

            "I'm not following," said Charlie.

            "My uncle said that when the time is right for us to return, we'd know it," said Cadance.

             "And you think it's time?" asked Charlie.

            Cadance just replied with a half-smile and a wink.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

            "Cadance, this is mad!" exclaimed Charlie as he bounced Melinda on his hip.  Cadance was pulling a set of robes (the only ones that she had that weren't locked away) out of the closet and putting them on.  Then she fastened a cloak around her neck and put up her hood.

            "I'm just going to go and make sure everything's okay," said Cadance.  "I'll just Apparate to the Ministry, plug myself into the Ministry-grapevine, and then get out.  No one will even know I was there!  And besides, we both look different now, Charlie!"

            "Yeah, right, okay, you magically turned your hair black and your eyes gray.  You don't look that different, Cadance!" exclaimed Charlie.

            "Charlie, I'll be fine," said Cadance putting her hands on Charlie's shoulders.  "How are we going to know if it's time or not if one of us doesn't go and look?"

            "Alright," sighed Charlie.  "But don't be too long, okay?"

            "I promise," she said.  "And I'll be sure to keep my hood up!"  She kissed him and them Melinda and then Apparated out. 


	3. Reunion

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as someone else's. One of these days, I'm going to put in a list of things I _do_ own.

A/N: Go go go Joseph you know what they say! Hang on now Joseph you'll make it some day! Sha la la Joseph your doing fine! You and your Dreamcoat ahead of your time! **_Have you supported your High School Musical today?_**

Chapter 2

As soon as Cadance arrived at the Ministry, she could feel that something just wasn't right. People were rushing about more than usual. Cadance kept her hood up and headed for the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to find some Aurors. When she got there, she noticed several Aurors going into one of the small meeting rooms. She slipped inside with them and stood in the back. About fifteen Aurors were there and she noticed a few more who she recognized entered.

Arabella Figg stood in front of them with Harry, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, and Remus. Cadance wanted to jump up and down like and idiot and then run and hug them, but she restrained herself. 

"Well, you all know the situation," said Arabella. "And the fact that they have me out of retirement should give you a clue to just how serious it is."

"What we seem to need," said Hermione, "is some Aurors who are willing to spend as long as necessary working on search parties as well as finding clues. Since she hasn't been missing for more than three days and we have nothing to go on but a premonition, you can't _assign_ your Aurors to this case. This is an unofficial investigation until three days from now. We are looking for volunteers. So far, all of us up here are involved as well as some non-Aurors who are particularly close to this case."

Cadance tapped her foot impatiently, wondering what was going on. Harry stood up and slid out of the room. Cadance was about to try to sneak out after when Arabella dismissed the Aurors. She left with them, but went down the hallway in the opposite direction, convinced now that it definitely was the time to return to the Wizarding World. She was so distracted that she accidentally bumped shoulders with someone walking down the hallway in the opposite direction. "Sorry," she said distractedly as she kept going. She glanced back, however, and her grey eyes met some fiercely blue ones a few feet away. They held their gaze for several seconds before both looked away. Cadance glanced back again, looking at the back of her sister's head as she walked away. Cadance was unaware that her sister had glanced back a second time, too, wondering if it was Cadance then dismissing the idea.

Cadance rushed home. She found Charlie in the living room playing with Melinda. He looked over at her when she Apparated in, but she just ran into the bedroom and started crawling around on the floor, pounding on the floorboards.

"Cadance," said Charlie as he carried Melinda in. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find the loose floorboards!" exclaimed Cadance. "Where are they?!"

"Here," said Charlie. He stomped on the end of one floorboard and the other end popped up. Cadance crawled to it and pulled it up, along with the ones on either side of it.

He grabbed Cadance by the shoulder. "Cadance, whoa, wait a second," he said. "What's the rush?"

She stood up, turned around, and faced him. She took Melinda from him and held her on her hip. "Charlie, the Ministry's in an uproar about something!" she exclaimed. Melinda reached up and began tugging on the hood of Cadance's cloak, which she hadn't taken off yet. "Honey, stop that," said Cadance pushing her hood back off her head.

Charlie gasped. Cadance's hair, which had been black before she had left, was now strawberry blonde, the color it had been before she and Charlie made their escape to the Muggle World.

"What?" asked Cadance.

Charlie just pointed at the mirror. Cadance walked over and looked in it. She, too, gasped. Her eyes had changed from grey to a vibrant blue. She pulled the hair-tie out of her hair and let it fall onto her shoulders. She turned back to Charlie. She started laughing. "Looks like I'm not the only one, Charlie," said Cadance. In the few seconds that Cadance had been looking in the mirror, Charlie's hair had turned back to it's original red color.

Baby Melinda, with her red hair and brilliant blue eyes (a trademark of Cadance's side of the family) now looked more like her mother and father.

A brilliant blue light was coming from the space under the loose floorboards that Cadance had ripped up. They walked over and looked in. They began lifting things out; Robes, cloaks, spell books, their wands, potions. At the very bottom, Cadance pulled out a box with a Phoenix carved on the front. Also, words in an ancient dead language were on the front: _Sdrow esehtyast solsaw tahw eer fot_. Cadance opened the box and a blue crystal on a chain was inside. The crystal matched the blue of Cadance and Melinda's eyes.

"Holy Cabooses," said Cadance.

"Cadance, I believe you're right," said Charlie. "It must be time."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

Harry needed to escape from the chaos of the Ministry. He went to the one place where he knew he could be alone, yet was still within reach if they needed him; Hogwarts. When he got there, he considered going up to the school to see Professor McGonagall, but he decided that he really just didn't want to talk about things, he just wanted to think about them. So instead he went to the Quidditch Pitch and climbed up into the stands. He laid down on one of the benches and looked up into the August sky. Pretty soon he was drifting off to sleep, remembering the events of the day….

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ Earlier that Day ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

Harry went into the Ministry to pick up some papers so he and Ginny could work from home that day. He went into the Auroring Department. He couldn't see anything but the tops of people's heads in the vast sea of cubicles. Some were bent over, working intently. Some were talking amiably with their neighboring cubicle-dwellers. Others were drinking coffee, sitting around, doing nothing. He had to walk past Hermione's cubicle in order to get to his own. As he walked past, he heard Hermione call his name. He backtracked and went into her cubicle. She was sitting behind her desk and Jen was sitting on the other side of her desk with her feet propped up on Hermione's desk and was sipping coffee.

"Pop a squat, Hare-Bear," said Jen winking. "It's a slow week."

"There's always calm before the storm," said Hermione raising her eyebrows and taking a sip of her own coffee.

"Honestly, Hermione, now you're beginning to sound like McGonagall," said Harry sitting down next to Jen.

"By the way, Jen, shouldn't you be working on Auror training stuff?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah, I should probably do it," said Jen. 

"I'm actually picking up Ginny's stuff," said Harry. "We're going to work from home today."

"Oh la la," said Hermione with a wink. "Yeah, you're really going to be _working_!" Her voice was seeping with playful sarcasm. 

Jen laughed. "Now you're beginning to sound like…" Jen cut herself off. 

"Who, Jen?" questioned Hermione.

"No one," said Jen. "I don't know what made me think of that."

"You were going to say that she sounded like Cadance, weren't you?" asked Harry.

Jen turned and looked at him. "Yeah, actually," said Jen. "How did you know?"

"I had a weird dream last week," said Harry. "Long story. It just gave me this feeling that…"

Hermione cut him off. "… that something big is coming?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Harry.

"That's so weird," said Jen. "George and I were talking about that the other night."

"I bet this is a sign," said Hermione.

Jen was about to open her mouth to say something else, but the next thing she knew, there was pain in her chest and she fell out of her chair. She saw flashes of visions; an overturned chair, burnt lunch, a swish of a cloak.

Her eyes snapped open. Harry and Hermione were kneeling by her. "Jen!" Harry screamed.

She heard Hermione scream, "Somebody get a doctor!"

"No, I'm fine," said Jen. "I'm fine."

"Jen, what happened?" asked Hermione. "I've never seen anyone do that before."

"I have," said Jen as Harry helped her back into a chair. "Once. It happened once to Cati after our powers were all unbound years ago. Harry, I think you need to get home. I just had a premonition and…" Harry didn't even let her finish her sentence. He Apparated out, right then and there.

When he got home, he saw that the desk chair was on its side. "Ginny!" he exclaimed. "GINNY!" He got no answer.

He went into the kitchen. There was a pot of soup on the stove, which was still on. He walked over to it and lifted the lid. The soup inside was burnt and stunk. He turned off the stove. "GINNY!" he called again as he ran through the house. He could not find his wife.

Within 10 minutes, Harry's house was full of Aurors and the Minister of Magic himself. Mr. Weasley had his entire personal staff searching the house for any hint to Ginny's whereabouts. Ron, Hermione, Jen, and George showed up a few minutes later. 

That was this morning. Later on in the afternoon, the Commanders of all the squads had been called in for a meeting, looking for volunteers. Since Ginny was no longer a child and there were currently no evil overlords running about, the law stood in his way. An adult had to be missing for three days before the disappearance could be officially looked into unless hard evidence was found. Fragments of a Premonition counted for very little with the law, even when it concerned the Minister's daughter and the wife of the Boy-Who-Lived-Twice.

Harry was about to drift off into sleep when someone behind him spoke. "Harry Potter, you know the Quidditch Pitch is off limits in the summer," said a familiar voice.

Harry sat up and turned around. "Since when?" he asked.

"Oh give me a break, Potter," said Professor McGonagall as she took a seat beside him. "How are you holding up?"

Harry just shrugged. "How did you know I was here?" he asked.

"I'm a Sorceress, Harry," said McGonagall. "And what kind of Headmistress would I be if I didn't know? I've got a lot of living up to do; I'm following in the footsteps of Albus Dumbledore." 

"And what do you think he would do in this situation?" asked Harry.

"Well actually, Harry, he was in a similar situation once," said McGonagall. "It was actually right before Cadance came to work here. She went on a mission and the Ministry couldn't find her. Albus was quite panicked because it was right after you witnessed the return of Voldemort."

"So what did he do?" asked Harry.

"He didn't lose hope," said McGonagall.

"Hope," repeated Harry.

"So are you ready to go back to the Ministry yet?" asked McGonagall. "Or aren't you done trespassing on my Quidditch Pitch yet?"

"I was hoping that if I came out here and thought long and hard, Ginny would just magically appear," said Harry.

"It's not time to worry yet," said McGonagall. "Sure, your wife has been kidnapped and we have no clues to go on except a premonition by a girl who isn't even supposed to have Sorceress powers anymore, but other than that there's really nothing to worry about."

"You know, Dumbledore would have said something better than that to try to cheer me up," said Harry.

"Oh, do shut up, Potter," said McGonagall. "Let's go to the Ministry. Your father-in-law called me in to help on this."

"Alright," sighed Harry. He stood up and offered Professor McGonagall his hand to help her up. She declined.

"Honestly, Harry, I'm not _that_ old," she said standing up on her own.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

"How productive," commented Arabella sarcastically.

They were in a meeting, trying to decide what was the best thing to do, and how to go about doing it. So far they had come up with nothing. Present were Harry, Ron, Hermione, Jen, Fred, George, Bill, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Arabella, Hagrid, Moody and McGonagall were there. 

"Hasn't there been any activity in the evil community?" asked Bill. "Anything at all?"

"No, nothing," said Harry. "We Aurors have been trying to keep track of it."

"Okay, what we need is to start at the beginning," said Hermione. "When did this all start?"

"This morning, when Ginny turned up missing," said Harry.

"No," said Hermione. "It started with all of us having a feeling that something big was coming."

"Right," said Jen. "And then somehow, I seemed to get my powers back after 2 years without them."

"Yes, that's definitely part of it," said Hermione. "What exactly did you see in your premonition?"

"It was all broken up," said Jen. "It was almost as if it was trying to break through the power bind and I only got to see parts of it. There was an overturned chair, a pot on a stove, and a swish of a cloak."

"How could your powers have become unbound?" asked Hermione. "That's the only way you could have gotten that premonition."

"I don't know," said Jen. "Maybe the power-binging potion wore off."

"Power-binding potions don't wear off," interjected McGonagall. "Not well-made ones at least."

"Sounds like we need more clues," said George.

"What we need is what we've lost in the past 2 or so years," said Jen.

"Jen…" began George.

"What? We were all thinking it," said Jen. "Nobody would have dared tried to kidnap someone so close to Albus Dumbledore if he were alive. And if Cadance were here…"

"Leave her out of this," said Bill. "Leave her and Charlie and that baby out of this, for their own safety."

"We need to reform the Order of the Phoenix," said Fred. "Even if most of our members are missing, it still gave a sense of power. You know, the collective power of a group. It was like being a member of the Order of the Phoenix gave you courage."

"You know that it's not possible," said Jen. "The position of Head of the Order of the Phoenix is hereditary, and only the head can form it again."

"So you're the heir to the name of Dumbledore," said Fred.

"Wrong," said Jen. "I'm **_an_** heir to the name of Dumbledore. I'm not the oldest, and I'm not the one who can form the Order. It's a dumb rule, but one that was made up when the meeting room was built. It can't be opened, except by Cadance."

There was silence for a minute or two as everyone thought about what to do, which was quite a feat for some of them. Then Jen stood up with a look of determination on her face. "This is dumb! What are we just sitting here for? Are we Wizards or are we Muggles?! So, we're at a complete loss at what to do?! We need to get out there and do what we can! Let's go and burn down the houses of Death Eaters who got let off!!!!!"

"It looks like someone's got a slight case of cabin fever," said George.

"Or mental disabilities," said McGonagall. "Dear God, Jennifer, you're sounding more and more like your sister."

"If she were here," said Jen, "she'd have dragged Lucius Malfoy in for questioning hours ago."

Suddenly Fawkes the Phoenix appeared in a burst of flame. "Did you find anything, Fawkes?" asked Professor McGonagall. Fawkes emitted a low cry.

"See!" exclaimed Jen. "Even Fawkes is losing hope! Let's burn some Death Eaters!!!"

"Clearly you all need some help," said a voice from the doorway. Cadance was standing there holding Melinda and Charlie had his arm around her shoulders. They were standing there as if they hadn't been gone for the past 2 years. 

Everyone began talking at once. Cadance gave the baby to Mrs. Weasley and held up her hands to silence everyone. Unfortunately it didn't work and she and Charlie ended up getting jostled and pushed around and hugged until they were sore.

It didn't stop until Melinda, who was also being passed around, became overwhelmed and began to cry. Crying babies repel people like exercise repels fat people. She was given back to her mother and things finally quieted down.

"What are you doing back here?!" asked Bill, with the first coherent, answerable question.

"There will be time for questions later," said Cadance as Fawkes came and settled on her shoulder and Melinda stopped crying. "Right now, quickly explain what's actually going on!"

"Well, this morning I got a premonition and Ginny got kidnapped and all Death Eaters should _burn_!" exclaimed Jen.

"Ginny was kidnapped?" asked Cadance. "Haven't bad guys moved on from the whole kidnapping-the-minister's-daughter thing? And why do you think it's Death Eaters?"

"Uhhh, right," said George. "You haven't been here for 2 years."

"Duh," said Cadance.

"First off," said Harry. "I _married_ Ginny, so this probably isn't a kidnapping-the-minister's-daughter thing."

"You're _married_?!" exclaimed Cadance. "Aren't you a little young?!"

"Well… I… We…" Harry stammered. "Hey, they're married too!" He pointed at Ron and Hermione.

"Oh yeah? If they jumped off a bridge, would you do it, too?" asked Cadance.

"My wife just got kidnapped! Why are you picking on me?!" exclaimed Harry.

"Alright, so now we need to get information," said Cadance to no one in particular as she stared off into space with a focused look on her face. She passed Melinda to Charlie and started walking out the door. "Come on, Cati, we're going to Kala's."

There was a pause as everyone looked at each other. Suddenly, Cadance came running back in the room. "Where is Cati?!" she exclaimed. 

"Ooooh," said Jen. "She's kinda not here."

"What do you mean by 'not here'?" asked Cadance.

"I mean, that nobody's really heard from her either since a bit after you left," said Jen.

Cadance's eyes narrowed and she turned around a marched out. "Where are you going?!" called Mrs. Weasley after her.

"To find Cati!" exclaimed Cadance, already heading down the hallway.

"She's not going to be able to find her," said George shaking his head.

"Let her go," said Mr. Weasley shaking his head and laughing. "And give me my granddaughter." He took the baby from Charlie.

"I've got 5 galleons that says she comes back with Cati," said Jen. 

"No way! She'll never find her!" exclaimed George.

"Does that mean we're on?" asked Jen.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Cadance was very glad she had her sorceress powers back. Using them, she was able to sense Cati, and while she didn't know where exactly she was, she was able to Apparate to the general area. She found herself in a dark and dingy bar. At first, she thought that she had found herself in the Hog's Head, the other bar in Hogsmeade. However, she realized it was too full to be the Hog's Head and there were pool tables in the back. The smell of stale cigarette smoke filled the air. Outside the dingy windows, it was very dark. Cadance made some quick calculations in her head. Her watch said it was 1:00 in the afternoon, but it was still running on American Time; Eastern Standard Time to be specific. London was 5 hours ahead of them, so that would make it 6:00 there. She glanced at the clock on the wall, which said it was currently 4:00. She didn't want to even begin to think of what country she was in. She looked down and realized she was still in Wizarding robes, and stood out like a sore thumb. She quickly took them off and draped them over her arm, realizing she looked just as much out of place in her white blouse, black skirt, and black pumps.

Cadance began looking around the bar. She saw no sign of her missing friend. She went back to the pool tables and her jaw dropped; she had found Cati. Cati was wearing some sort of tight leather lace-up leather tube top and leather pants. She was playing pool with a man who was wearing a suit minus the jacket and tie, which was draped over a table near the pool table.

Cadance walked up and Cati glanced at her. "Oh my, Larry," said Cati to the well-dressed man she was with. "I think I'm seeing things."

"No, Cati, you're not seeing things," said Cadance.

"Oh boy!" exclaimed Cati. "Quick, Larry! Go ask Johnny Depp to play pool with us! He's standing by the bar!"

Cadance glanced behind her and saw no Johnny Depp standing by the bar. This was when Cadance realized that Cati was drunk. "Cati!" she exclaimed.

"Hey, I know you!" exclaimed Cati finally acknowledging Cadance.

"Cati, you're completely soused!" exclaimed Cadance.

"Yeah, I know, isn't it great!" said Cati joyfully. She took a sip of the tequila that was on the edge of the pool table.

"Excuse me," said the man with Cati. He spoke with an Australian accent. "How do you know each other?"

"We're old friends," said Cadance. "And she's coming home now. Come on, Cati."

"Hey, maybe she doesn't want to go anywhere," said the man putting his arm around Cati's shoulders.

Cadance stared him down. "Does your wife know you're here?" asked Cadance.

The man looked at her in disbelief. He opened his mouth to speak but then closed it. He repeated this several times causing him to look like a dying fish. "Beat it," he finally said.

"Cati," said Cadance. "It's time to come home."

"I said beat it!" said the fishy man.

"I dare you to try to talk to me like that again," said Cadance with eyes flashing.

"Beat it," he said slowly and pointedly.

Cadance narrowed her eyes at him. All of a sudden he went flying against the wall. Cati spilled her drink everywhere. "Let's go, Cati," said Cadance.

"No, I'm staying here," said Cati.

"Catalin, we need you," said Cadance.

"I needed you!" argued Cati. "And you left!"

"Cati, I left for Melinda! And I'm back now," said Cadance. "Cati, please."

"Okey dokie," said Cati. Remember, she's drunk. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see," said Cadance grabbing Cati's arm and Apparating out. 

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

By the time they had Apparated to London, Cati had sobered up enough for Cadance to us a charm to sober her up the rest of the way. Standing outside, in the middle of London, Cati grabbed Cadance and engulfed her in a giant hug, which Cadance returned. "Cati, why you run off!?" asked Cadance.

"I don't know. I guess I just got the little town blues," said Cati.

"Why the hell are you dressed like that?" asked Cadance.

"Well why are _you_ dressed like _that_?" asked Cati.

Suddenly a clap of thunder sounded and a flash of lightning lit up the sky. The sky was rapidly turning into a dark ominous shade of blue. The wind stopped blowing and the birds could not be heard. "The calm before the storm," said Cati. "I've never seen such strange weather."

"I don't think this is completely natural," said Cadance.

"Why did you come back?" asked Cati suddenly.

"Oh right! We just got in a few hours ago. There's trouble Cati. Ginny's been kidnapped," said Cadance.

"What?!" exclaimed Cati. There was more thunder. Cati looked around and then put on a dramatic voice and said, "Dark forces are gathering in Mordor. His eye is fixed on London!"

"Cati, you're so weird," said Cadance. "No more books for you."

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ 

"I'm home!!!!!" exclaimed Cati as she bounced into the meeting room in the Ministry, Cadance right behind her.

Jen jumped up excitedly. "The Death Eaters will _burn_!" She did some sort of strange happy dance. Then she pointed at George. "AND YOU OWE ME 5 GALLEONS!"

"Death Eaters?" questioned Cati. "We don't have to deal with them again do we?"

"No, I don't think so. Jen's been talking about Death Eaters since she got that premonition," said Hermione.

"I still think we should drag Lucius Malfoy in for questioning!" exclaimed Jen.

"How could Lucius Malfoy know anything about this if he's in Azkaban?" asked Cadance incredulously.

"Ooh, don't go there," said Ron.

"What?" asked Cadance and Charlie at once.

"Well, you two left before most of the whole Voldemort thing was resolved," said Hermione. "Lucius Malfoy got off again."

"Yeah, by the way, you two also left before you got your Order of Merlins," said McGonagall.

"I believe the proper way to phrase that would be 'Orders of Merlin'," said Sirius.

"Are you sure?" asked McGonagall.

"Well, I think so," said Sirius. "You see there was only one Merlin so…"

"HEY!" exclaimed Moody. "I think we're missing the bigger picture here!"

"Oh right," said Cadance. "That whole Ginny's been kidnapped thing. Well, the best thing to do is wait for a ransom note. And if my Sorceress intuition is correct it should be coming through that window in three… two… one!" Suddenly an arrow came flying through the window, shattering glass. It hit the wall right by Harry's head. There was a note attached to it.

"How did you bloody do that?" asked Jen. Cadance shrugged.

Harry pulled the arrow off of the wall. He took the note off of it and then handed the arrow to Cadance as he read. "Hello, Potter and company. If you ever want to see your precious wife again, dial 555-RANSOM. We'll ship her back to you within 4-6 business days. However, if no one answers your call, it's because you need to suffer for what you've done to our Lord. What goes around comes around, Potter. Wait around a bit, and you may get another note from us."

Everyone stared at Harry as if he had lobsters crawling out of his ears. In the time after Cadance and Charlie arrived and before receiving the ransom note, there had been a sort of laid-back attitude with everyone in the room. Even Harry was less worried with the return of Charlie, Cadance, and Cati; kind of like there was no way they could lose now that they had most of the Order back together. After receiving that note however, the same type of melancholy sadness that was there before Cadance and Charlie showed up returned and settled on the group.

And so they sat and wondered and thought and puzzled for almost 2 hours trying to come up with some way of finding Ginny. Finally Cadance came up with another bad theory.

"So what you're saying," said Jen skeptically, "is that the Furbies are angry about something you did in your 6th Year and now they've joined forces with Death Eaters to get back at all of us."

"Yes!" exclaimed Cadance.

"You're real crazy," said Jen.

"Well, you wanted to burn the Death Eaters!" argued Cadance.

"I've got an idea!" exclaimed Cati. She snapped her fingers and a telephone appeared. She started dialing a number.

"Who are you calling?" asked Harry.

"I'm dialing the number in the ransom note!" she exclaimed. There was silence for a few seconds then Cati hung up. "No one answered!"

"This is ridiculous," said Mr. Weasley.

"I'll say it is," said a disembodied familiar voice. Suddenly there was a swirl of white lights announcing the upcoming presence of a White Lighter. Cati dove behind Bill trying to hide.

In the middle of the room now stood Wendy and Ginny.

"Ginny!!!" exclaimed pretty much everyone. Harry grabbed Ginny and pulled her into a body-crushing hug.

"Wendy!!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Hey! What's going on here?!" exclaimed Arabella.

"Well, you guys weren't going anywhere with your theories (honestly, Cadance, _Furbies_?) so The White Lighter Council decided you needed some help," said Wendy. "But what the hell are you doing here?" She directed her question at Cadance and Charlie.

"Well, we felt there was something amiss so we came to help!" exclaimed Cadance.

"Is that my niece?" asked Ginny pulling away from Harry and taking the baby from Charlie.

"Yeah, that's Melinda," said Cadance.

Everyone looked at Wendy to ask her more questions, but they found that Wendy and Sirius were kind of making out. "Hey! Not in front of the baby!" exclaimed Jen whacking Sirius on the back.

"By the way, the Charmed Ones say hi," said Wendy.

"The Charmed Ones?" asked Charlie.

"Yeah," said Wendy. "Who do you think vanquished the demons that were holding Ginny?"

"So it wasn't Death Eaters?" asked Jen looking crestfallen.

"No, Jen, sorry," said Wendy. "You can't set aflame any Death Eaters."

"Former Death Eaters," corrected Mr. Weasley. "Don't say 'Death Eaters' too loudly, for God's sakes. You don't want people to think that Voldemort is involved in anything."

"Voldemort's dead," said Cadance. "He can't come back… right?"

"Right," said Cati firmly.

However, Jen had a feeling in her gut that that wasn't exactly right. 


	4. Hogwarts and Flashbacks

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as anyone else's.  
  
A/N: Yeah, I know I haven't updated in a while, but the musical kept me busy (It went great just FYI). Thanks to all who have reviewed and waited patiently (namely Amanda, Kala, and Kassy) for this chapter!  
  
A/N2: Okay, so I borrowed the character of Professor Umbridge for this story. She only makes a cameo appearance in this chapter, but she was such an awesomely evil character that I had to borrow her. She's not the character you love to hate... just the one that you hate and love it. Do you know what I mean? Anyway, she's in here, as a person from Cadance and Cati's past. I hope you enjoy it!  
  
Chapter 3  
  
"Jen, we really don't want to be any trouble," said Cadance. She and Charlie were moving boxes into Jen's house; Cadance's old house.  
  
"Trust me, Cadance, it's no trouble at all," said Jen. Cadance, Charlie, and Melinda were moving in with her for a short amount of time. They were moving into the spare bedroom.  
  
"So what do you think you'll do now?" asked Ginny. She was helping them move. "Aurors?"  
  
"I don't know," said Cadance. "I think we'll try to find a permanent place to live first."  
  
"Where's Sirius today?" asked Jen. "He's usually here at this time eating breakfast."  
  
"He's with Wendy," answered Harry.  
  
"Saying Goodbye?" asked Cadance.  
  
"Haven't you heard?" asked Harry. "Wendy's staying. She clipped her wings. She's not a White Lighter anymore."  
  
"What?!" exclaimed Cadance. She stormed out of the room and down the stairs. "We need Elders like her who can help us out instead of sitting on their asses and watching!" She went out the door, crossed the street, and went into Sirius's house. "WENDY!" she exclaimed.  
  
She walked into the living room and saw Wendy and Sirius sitting on the couch. "Yes, Cadance?" asked Wendy brightly. Sirius, however, continued to stare at Wendy with love in his eyes. Cadance noticed this and she understood. She sighed and smiled.  
  
"Wendy, I'm glad you're back."

-------------------------------------

Cadance and Charlie had promised Professor McGonagall that they'd go to visit her at Hogwarts before the school year ended. Jen volunteered to baby-sit Melinda while they went one mid-afternoon about a week until the end of the year.  
  
However, once they left (Cati was meeting them there), Jen grabbed a light traveling cloak and Apparated out with Melinda on her hip. They arrived in a Victorian House. A woman whom Jen had met before was walking down the stairs with a baby who was just a little older than Melinda. "Well, hello," she said smiling at Jen.  
  
"Hi, Piper," said Jen smiling back.  
  
"That's not your daughter is it?" asked Piper.  
  
"No, this is Cadance and Charlie's. Her name's Melinda," answered Jen. "Is that Chris?"  
  
"Yeah," said Piper. "Wyatt's upstairs, still sleeping." She was referring to Wyatt and Chris, her two sons. Piper Halliwell and her two sisters Phoebe and Paige were the Charmed Ones.  
  
"I'm sorry to come so early," said Jen. "I forgot about the time difference."  
  
"It's no problem at all," said Piper, still smiling.  
  
"I wanted to thank you for your help," said Jen. "Wendy told us you vanquished the demons and saved Ginny."  
  
"You guys would have done the same for us," answered Piper. "Come on, we'll put the babies in the play pen and you and I can talk."  
  
"Alright," said Jen. When everything was situated, Piper and Jen sat down on the couch. "Wendy came back to tell us she was clipping her wings. She also told us that Cadance and Charlie were back. I'm glad to hear it."  
  
"Piper, I didn't just come over to thank you," confessed Jen. "I need to ask you a question."  
  
"Well, ask away," said Piper.  
  
"You and your sisters helped us vanquish Voldemort," said Jen. "Is there any possible way for him to come back?"  
  
Piper thought carefully for a second and then answered. "No," she said. "Not without the blood of a living relative. We put powerful ingredients in that potion and the spell called the powers of the dead to vanquish him. He's being kept by the dead now and a bone from his dead father won't bring him back. Only his blood could."  
  
Jen was relieved to hear that. She was just about to tell Piper that when a young man walked in. He smiled at her as he stood behind the couch, behind his mother.  
  
"Oh, Chris, this is Jen..." began Piper.  
  
"Jen Weasley, I know," said Chris.  
  
"Wait a second, Chris," said Piper. "This is Jen Dumbledore. Her sister is the Weasley. And I never told you that. You're getting your witches crossed."  
  
"Maybe not," said Chris. "Mom, I'll talk to you later." He gave a nod to Jen and walked out.  
  
"Alright, Piper, spill. Who's Chris?" asked Jen as soon as he left.  
  
"I'm sure you already have it figured out," said Piper.  
  
"Let's see," said Jen. "He has the same name as your son, called you mom, and speaks in cryptic messages. He's from the future, isn't he?"  
  
"Yeah," said Piper. "He came from the future to make sure we kill a specific demon who wants to kill Wyatt in the future. He's already done what he set out to do, but we don't know how to get him back to his time."  
  
"He seemed to have known me at some point in the future," said Jen. "Or at least my family."  
  
"Perhaps. I'm sure our paths will cross several times in his lifetime," said Piper.  
  
"Well, I must get going," said Jen. "There's so much to do and I better get home before Cadance does. I'm not sure she'll appreciate that I was doing some transcontinental Apparating with her 15-month daughter.  
  
"Don't be a stranger," said Piper.  
  
"If you guys ever need anything, don't hesitate to call," said Jen. She got Melinda from the playpen, said her final good-bye, and Apparated out. As soon as she was gone, Piper called, "CHRIS! CHRIS!" Chris orbed in in front of her.  
  
"You rang?" he asked pleasantly.  
  
"So what's the deal, Chris?" asked Piper. "How do you know the Dumbledores?"  
  
"I don't know any Dumbledores," said Chris.  
  
"Chris, I'm not dumb. You know Jen Dumbledore," said Piper.  
  
"Mom, I know a Jen Weasley," said Chris. "And that was definitely her. What was she here for?"  
  
"She was asking a question," said Piper. "And she brought her niece who she was babysitting."  
  
"Molly?" asked Chris.  
  
"No, Melinda," said Piper.  
  
A look of shock came across Chris's face and he couldn't hide it before Piper caught it. She grabbed him by his ear. "Ow!" he exclaimed as she dragged him to the couch and made him sit. She stood in front of him.  
  
"Talk," said Piper. "How do you know them?"  
  
"I can't tell you," said Chris.  
  
"I'm your mother," said Piper. "You can tell me"  
  
Chris looked her in the eyes and gave in. "Alright. In the future, you're going to send Wyatt and I to Hogwarts and that's all I'll tell you."  
  
"Something bad is going to happen and you won't tell me what it is. I can tell," said Piper, a little put out.  
  
"Don't take it personally, Mom. I just can't tell you," he said.  
  
"Well," said Piper, "does it have anything to do with why you came back to the past? Because if it doesn't then you can tell me."  
  
"Kind of indirectly," said Chris. "Let's just say that Wyatt isn't the only force of good who died before their time in the future. It tipped the scales of good and evil in evil's favor and the future sucks and that's why I'm here now."  
  
Piper reached up and brushed a stray hair out of Chris's face. He seemed to have grown upset talking about the future. They had talked about the future before and he had never been this upset, not even when they talked about Wyatt's death. She forced a smile and decided to get to the bottom of it herself.

-------------------------------------

Jen put Melinda down for a nap when she got home. She flipped through the Book of Light as she thought about what had happened at the Halliwell's.  
  
First, Voldemort couldn't come back. She tried repeating it to herself, but it still seemed unreal.  
  
And then there was Chris. She wasn't sure why, but for some reason she felt like there was something about the future that just wasn't right. It seemed funny, she thought, that she was thinking about the future and feeling that something wasn't right. She decided to stop thinking about it. Her uncle had once written in memoirs recovered after his death that what would come would come and that everyone would just have to deal with it.  
  
Her thoughts were interrupted when Sirius and Wendy came bouncing in. "Did you see the newspaper?" Sirius asked brightly. He opened one up to a page somewhere in the middle. The title of one article read "Weasley Family Returns to Wizarding World".  
  
_Charles and Cadance Weasley are once again in the Wizarding World after a period of 2 years where they were conspicuously absent. After the untimely demise of Albus Dumbledore, the uncle of Mrs. Weasley and the former Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the husband and wife retreated into the muggle world. Mr. Weasley is the son of our Minister Arthur Weasley. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley returned when Virginia Potter, the wife of the Boy-Who-Lived and only daughter of Minister Weasley, was kidnapped.  
Mrs. Weasley had once been the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor at Hogwarts, now replaced by Professor Dolores Umbridge, a former Ministry Employee. News of conflicts between the two women have reached us by an unnamed source. Undoubtedly, the Ministry will want to be looking into this, now that Mrs. Weasley has returned.  
The real news, however, is not simply that they had returned but that they returned with an extra person. They now have a daughter, Melinda. Melinda is fifteen months old and will, without a doubt, be coming into sorceress powers inherited from her mother's side of the family._  
  
Jen started laughing. Ginny's kidnapping had made front page news, but somehow Charlie and Cadance's return had not been mentioned and Cadance was glad. "Cadance is going to flip!" exclaimed Wendy.  
  
"Hmmm..." said Sirius. "Where is Cadance anyway?"  
  
"She's visiting Hogwarts..."

-------------------------------------

Visiting isn't exactly the right term for it, though it had been intended as an innocent visit. Cadance and Charlie Apparated to Hogsmeade and then walked up to the castle hand-in-hand. The door creaked as they entered the empty Entry Hall. "It hasn't changed," commented Cadance.  
  
"It's only been 2 years," said Charlie.  
  
"Feels like forever," said Cadance. They walked through the doors at the other end of the Entry Hall into the empty Great Hall. They walked quietly and looked around in awe. Cadance put her cloak and bag down on a table and walked up to the Head Table, running her hand along it as she walked to the end. "I feel like I should be quiet and respectful."  
  
Just then, Cati came bouncing into the Great Hall. She was wearing her black top, pants, and boots with her long khaki coat and Indiana Jones hat and belt with bullwhip and various other sharp knives and demon-killing devices attached. "HELLO!" she screamed.  
  
Cadance and Charlie laughed. "Oh, Cati," said Cadance.  
  
"What in heavens name are you wearing?" asked Charlie.  
  
"Are you planning to vanquish demons while you're here?" asked Cadance giving the coat a gentle tug. "And is that my hat?"  
  
"Hey, you left it behind when you left," argued Cati jokingly. "And for your information, I am dressed like this because I just came from demon- hunting."  
  
"Why?" asked Cadance.  
  
"Because I have to make sure that no demons are going to try to attack your baby," said Cati.  
  
"What?" asked Charlie.  
  
"We'll talk about it later," said Cati with a wink. "Because here comes Bill."  
  
"Bill?" asked Cadance. "How do you know?"  
  
"Cadance, for two years I chased demons all over the world... except France," she said. "It really heightens a lot of your sorceress powers."  
  
Right on cue, Bill walked in rather sheepishly. "Hi," he said. Cadance ran and gave him a hug. Charlie clapped him on the shoulder. Cati lit a cigarette.  
  
Bill hadn't been home from Egypt since when Ginny had been kidnapped and that was hardly a time for happy hellos.  
  
"So, how are things?" asked Bill.  
  
"Things are things," said Charlie.  
  
"Are you planning on staying?" asked Bill casually.  
  
"I think we're planning on it," replied Charlie just as casually.  
  
Cati rolled her eyes. "Men," she said. "They've been separated for 2 years and they're talking like it's only been 2 days."  
  
"Women will never understand the male species," said a voice from the doorway. They looked over and found Kala, the bartender from Tipsy's Tavern and their old friend, leaning against the giant door frame. "What's with this?" she asked. "You two have been back for a week and you haven't stopped into the bar to see me yet?!"  
  
"They're slackers," said Cati taking a long drag on her cigarette.  
  
Cadance sniffed the air and then turned around to look at her, finally realizing that she was smoking. "Catalin Marie Nuperson! What are you doing!? Where in heaven's name did you pick up that nasty habit!?"  
  
"Bars," said Cati.  
  
"Put out that cigarette," said Cadance. "You said you were out vanquishing demons to keep Melinda safe; well you're going to kill my baby with awful smoke."  
  
"Sorry, sorry," said Cati. "It's a nervous habit."  
  
Cadance took the offending cancer-causing stink bomb from her and stamped it saying, "Why the hell are you nervous?"  
  
Before she could answer, another voice came from the doorway. "Well, what in the name of Merlin are you all doing in there?" It was sharp and clear and confident, yet full of wisdom and authority.  
  
They all turned around and saw Professor McGonagall standing in the doorway.  
  
"Minnie!" exclaimed Cati running over to her and throwing her arms around her dramatically.  
  
"Don't touch me," said McGonagall. "And don't call me Minnie."  
  
Cati grinned at her until Bill pried her off.  
  
"Well, how about some tea?" asked McGonagall. "After that there are several things to discuss."  
  
"What kind of things?" asked Cati casually taking a seat at the Head Table and propping her feet up on the table.  
  
"Oh, just certain changes," said McGonagall. "Here and there."  
  
"Here?" asked Cadance.  
  
"Ummm..." said McGonagall, choosing her words carefully. "Well, yes. But we'll discuss that after tea."  
  
"Alright, I'm just going to use the fireplace to call Jen," said Cadance. "I'll be right back."  
  
"Okay, but hurry up," said McGonagall.  
  
"I might stop in the Defense Against the Dark Arts room on the way," said Cadance.  
  
"No!" exclaimed McGonagall suddenly. "Umm... well... your tea! It will get cold. Why don't you call Jen after tea?"  
  
"Alright," said Cadance suspiciously. She sat down next to Cati. Professor McGonagall snapped her fingers and a few chairs appeared on the opposite side of the table so that they could all sit in a little group.  
  
They began talking and catching up as they drank their tea. Cati downed the last of her tea and began looking at her tea leaves as they continued talking.  
  
After a while, Cadance grew quiet. Professor McGonagall looked at her for a second then screamed, "Cadance!"  
  
"What?" asked Cadance.  
  
"Stay out of my mind," she said.  
  
"I was just trying to figure out why you didn't want me to go to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room," said Cadance innocently.  
  
"Try tea leaves," said Cati. "It's easier and you don't get caught poking around in other people's heads."  
  
"Who said I didn't want you to go to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room?" asked McGonagall a little too confidently.  
  
"Uh huh," said Cadance with a gleam in her eye. "So let's go then."  
  
"Go? To my office? That sounds good," said McGonagall.  
  
"See!" exclaimed Cadance.  
  
"Yeah, Minerva, you do seem to be against going to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room," said Kala.  
  
"Alright," said McGonagall. "Alright. We'll walk by but it'll be really boring."  
  
They all got up and were walking down to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. Cati linked arms with Kala and they skipped off singing a song about a wonderful wizard and going to see him.  
  
When they all reached the Defense Against the Dark Arts room, Professor McGonagall tried to usher them past it, but Charlie opened the door and walked in.  
  
"Excuse me, can I help you?" asked a sickeningly sweet voice as the rest of them filed in; McGonagall last.  
  
"Oh my God," said Cadance.  
  
"Oh my God," said the woman.  
  
"Oh my God," said a 6th Year Gryffindor in the front row. He turned to face the boy behind him. "I told you she would show up here!"  
  
Cati whipped a knife out of her pocket and held it up menacingly. Cadance already had her wand out and pointing at the woman, who was doing the same to her.  
  
"What are you doing here?" growled Cati.  
  
"I work here," she growled back.  
  
"Minerva!" exclaimed Cadance.  
  
"Headmistress!" exclaimed the woman.  
  
"Cadance. Professor Umbridge. Please stop screaming," said McGonagall. "There are students present. Now if you'll just step outside and wait until class is over, then we can all talk this over like mature adults." She waited for Cadance and Cati to lower their guard and turned to go outside. Kala, Charlie, and Bill looked at her and shrugged.  
  
"Cadance, come on," said Charlie putting a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"I can't, Charlie," said Cadance. "I learned a long time ago not to turn my back when this witch is around."  
  
"Cadance," reprimanded McGonagall. "Out. Now." She saw that Cadance, Cati, and Umbridge had no intentions of moving and that Kala was getting ready to pull out her own wand and that Bill and Charlie wouldn't leave them. "Dolores, lower your wand this instant," she hissed.  
  
She did as she was told. Cadance and Cati turned and walked out with Bill, Charlie, and Kala behind them. McGonagall followed and closed the door on the way out.  
  
"Cadance, I'm surprised at you!" exclaimed McGonagall.  
  
"I'm not," said Kala dully. "Would somebody please tell me what's going on? Because I almost joined you two and it'd be nice to know why."  
  
"She's an oppressive bitch," spat Cati.  
  
"Cadance, don't talk about Professor McGonagall like that," reprimanded Kala.  
  
"Not her! Umbridge!" exclaimed Cati. "She was our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher when we were in our 6th Year!"  
  
"Oh, the year you two never finished," said Kala.  
  
"Yeah, we ran away," said Cadance.  
  
"To my house," said Charlie.  
  
"Yeah, you two still owe me a paper from that year," said McGonagall. "I'm just sayin'."  
  
"Fudge was just appointed Minister..." started Cati.  
  
"Is this going to be a flashback sequence?" asked Kala.  
  
"Yeah, but it'll just be the Cliff's Notes version," said Cadance. "We don't have time to shove a whole year in one chapter."  
  
"What are Cliff's Notes?"  
  
--------------------Flashback--------------  
  
And so we find ourselves in the beginning of Cadance and Cati's 6th Year. They are at Hogwarts and Minister Fudge had just appointed Dolores Umbridge as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. Her job was to investigate teachers and students to see if they exhibited "Ministry-approved" behavior. She was pure hell.  
  
"Miss Dumbledore!" snapped Dolores Jane Umbridge.  
  
"Yes?" asked Cadance.  
  
"What is that you have in your hand?" she asked.  
  
Cadance looked down at her hand and back up at Umbridge. "My wand?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, your wand," said Umbridge. "Did I tell you to take out your wand?"  
  
"But you just said we would be studying uncommon jinxes today," said Cadance.  
  
"Yes," said Umbridge in her fake sweet voice. "_Studying_. Not performing. Everyone open your books to page 112 and take notes." Collectively the class groaned.  
  
"All we've done so far is study!" exclaimed Cadance. "What good is studying a jinx if you never learn how to use it?!"  
  
"Don't you take that tone of voice with me, young lady," she said. "Now if I hear one more peep out of you then you can go right down to Professor McGonagall's office and she can deal with you."  
  
"Peep," said Cadance as she got out of her seat and walked out of the room.  
  
She was shortly joined by Cati who had begun applauding her.  
  
Shortly after this incident, the Professor from Hell was given power by the Minister to sit in on classes and review them. She had the ability to scare almost every teacher. Not even Dumbledore could hand out immunity from her scrutinizing. Cadance and Cati walked into Potions one day to see Umbridge sitting in a seat in the corner with her clipboard on her lap. Professor Snape was standing in the doorway sneering at everyone as they came in, except Cati. Cadance put her hand on Snape's arm. "I want you to know that even though we've had our differences, I'm rooting for you," she said. This earned her an extra-special sneer.  
  
Snape had written a list of steps for a complicated potion on the board. He walked around as people began to prepare them. Umbridge followed closely behind him. At the end of the class, Professor Snape seemed to be finally showing his annoyance. She had asked him questions about how he taught the class and asked prying questions about his past.  
  
"Would you mind if I asked you a few questions?" asked Snape in a voice that mocked her fake sweet one. "How long have you been working for the Ministry?"  
  
"About 15 years," answered Umbridge.  
  
"Uh huh," said Snape. "And how does that qualify you to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Professor Umbridge was struck speechless. "The next time you question a colleague's teaching, think about your own lack of qualifications."  
  
Cadance and Cati stood up and clapped.  
  
"Nuperson! Dumbledore!" snapped Umbridge.  
  
"Peep!" they exclaimed.  
  
And so most of the year continued until finally one day, towards the end of the year... 

"Please begin reading on page 1442 and take notes," said Umbridge. "You will be tested..." She was caught off guard when the door was blasted off its hinges. Cadance and Cati jumped to their feet, fireballs in hand, as a demon walked through the door. He was big and rather scary looking. He waved his hand and Cadance and Cati flew at the wall, hitting their heads and being knocked unconscious.  
  
Everyone began screaming and plunging their hands into their robes to get their wands. Several people tried jinxing or cursing it, however they were severely out of practice due to the fact that they had not performed them all year. The demon laughed and walked over to Cadance and Cati who were beginning to stir. He gave Cati a sharp kick and she groaned. "Which one of you is Dumbledore's niece?" he grunted. Neither of them said anything. He kicked Cadance and she groaned. "Open your eyes. Both of you." They both did. He pointed at Cadance. "You." He reached down and grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to her feet. While still holding her arm he plunged he pulled out a knife. A few of the people in the class (particularly the macho-men) started forward but Mr. Demon barked "Nobody move!"  
  
"What do you want?" asked Cadance boldly.  
  
"Where is your uncle?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know," said Cadance.  
  
The demon raised his knife above his head. "The Order of the Phoenix must not form again!" he exclaimed. He was about to stab her when Professor McGonagall came running in, her wand outstretched.  
  
"Abraxas," said McGonagall.  
  
"Ah, McGonagall," said the demon. "So we meet again. The Order of the Phoenix must not be formed again. You can take that message and the girl's dead body back to Dumbledore."  
  
"The Order of the Phoenix is over and done with. We have no need for it," said McGonagall.  
  
"Not now, but you will," said Abraxas. He made a move to stab Cadance again but he felt pain in his leg. He looked down. Cati had plunged a knife into his calf. He released Cadance and she fell to the floor. He pulled the knife out and was about the throw it at Cati in retaliation but he was stunned from behind. He fell over and disappeared.  
  
"Everyone out," said McGonagall. All the students except Cadance and Cati filed out of the room. Umbridge was about to leave as well but Professor McGonagall stopped her.  
  
"Is he gone?" asked Cati.  
  
"For now," said McGonagall. "He used his powers and that's a violation of his demonic parole. He'll have to make a run for it now. He won't be back any time soon. Are the two of you okay?"  
  
"Yeah, we're fine," said Cati.  
  
"Cadance, perhaps you'd like to go and see your uncle after you and Cati explain what happened?" said McGonagall.  
  
Cadance nodded and Cati explained what had happened; including how the class had been unprepared. "Professor McGonagall, we all could have been killed because of this woman," she said in conclusion.  
  
"Miss Nuperson, detention," said Umbridge.  
  
"What?!" exclaimed Cati. "Are you shitting me?!"  
  
"Make it a week's worth of detentions," said Umbridge. "For disrespecting the High Inquisitor." Cati looked to Professor McGonagall for help. "She can't help you, Miss Nuperson. She's got no power over me."  
  
"Dolores, be reasonable," snapped McGonagall. "After what they've just been through, I'm surprised that Cadance isn't snapping as well!"  
  
"Can I go see my uncle now?" asked Cadance.  
  
"No, Miss Dumbledore, there is still the issue of who broke into the Slytherin Common Room yesterday night," said Umbridge.  
  
"That wasn't me," said Cadance.  
  
"Yeah, right, detention," said Umbridge.  
  
"Professor McGonagall!" exclaimed Cadance, appealing to the Deputy Head for help. "You know I at least admit it when I break into the Slytherin Common Room!"  
  
"Dolores, she does always take credit for her handiwork," said McGonagall.  
  
"I'll expect the both of you in my office for detention by 5 o'clock this evening," said Umbridge. "And I'll be writing home to your parents... oh wait, I guess I won't be. I forgot."  
  
Cadance's eyes narrowed into tiny slits. "That was a low blow," she spat.  
  
"Miss Dumbledore, are you aware of what the penalty is for harassing a Ministry Member?" asked Umbridge.  
  
"So now you're going to send me to Azkaban?!" exclaimed Cadance.  
  
"If I could, I would," said Umbridge putting her fake sweet voice back on. "I have connections, dear. I'm sure I could find something to send you in on."  
  
"Let me get this straight," said Cadance in disbelief. "We get attacked by demons, almost die, get detention, and now you're threatening me with Azkaban?"  
  
"Dolores, I never thought I'd live to see the day a Ministry employee abuses their power to the point where they are threatening two 16-year-old girls!" exclaimed McGonagall.  
  
"Hold your tongue, Minerva," said Dolores.  
  
"I will NOT hold my tongue, Dolores!" exclaimed McGonagall. "The Ministry is going to the DOGS! First you all try to tell everyone that Albus Dumbledore is crazy and you get him kicked off the International Confederation of Wizards AND the Wizengamot and then they appoint YOU to this position and give you power over all Hogwarts Employees! Now you know that these girls have done nothing wrong yet you're giving them detention anyway."  
  
"This isn't about the detention, Minerva!" exclaimed Umbridge. "We all know this is personal!"  
  
"When your teaching endangers the lives of my students, then yes it becomes personal!" exclaimed McGonagall.  
  
Cadance and Cati exchanged a look. Cati's eyes darted towards the door. Cadance winked at her. They slowly turned around and started walking towards the door. "Not so fast, ladies," said Umbridge, pulling out a wand.  
  
"Now she pulls a wand on us!" exclaims Cati. "When will it end?!"  
  
"Cadance, Cati, you are excused," said McGonagall.  
  
They turned around to leave, but Umbridge said, "Stupefy!"  
  
Cadance and Cati whipped around and they each threw a hand out in front of themselves. Before the spell had even left Umbridge's wand, she had flown backwards and was knocked unconscious.  
  
McGonagall, Cadance, and Cati all exchanged a look. "Well," said Cati. "Bye."  
  
"Yeah, Professor, we appreciate everything you did for us today," said Cadance. "And when you're questioned about what happened later, you can tell them that we openly provoked her."  
  
"And we're really sorry that we can't turn in our Transfiguration essays before we go," said Cati.  
  
"Go?" asked McGonagall.  
  
"Yeah," said Cadance. She waved her hand in front of McGonagall and froze her. "I'm sorry about that, too."  
  
"Come on, she won't stay frozen long," said Cati.  
  
"Where are we going to go?" asked Cadance as they walked out of the classroom. "And what do you think is going to happen?"  
  
"Well, I think that the Ministry is out of whack enough that they'd actually try to arrest us," said Cati. "And that's why we're getting out of here. Let's go!"  
  
"Where are we going?" asked Cadance.  
  
"To get our broomsticks!" announced Cati.  
  
Cadance glanced out a window to the sky which was rapidly darkening with rain clouds. "Grand," she said dully.  
  
A few minutes later  
  
McGonagall burst into Dumbledore's office. He looked up from his desk. "Albus, they're gone!" she exclaimed.  
  
"What?" said Dumbledore.  
  
"First they were attacked by demons and then they got in a fight with Umbridge and she threatened them with the detention and Azkaban and then she tried to stun them, but they made it backfire and now Cadance and Cati are gone!" she said all in one breath.  
  
Dumbledore had gotten up and walked to her while she was speaking. He grabbed her shoulders and said "Calm down, Minerva. I can't understand you. What's going on?" He looked in her eyes and realization dawned on him. "Oh, no."  
  
Later that night  
  
Cadance and Cati flew all night through the rain. At about two o'clock in the morning, they knocked on a door to a small house, situated far away from other houses. The door was opened by a very sleepy-eyed Charlie Weasley.  
  
"Cadance? Cati? What the heck?" asked Charlie when he saw them.  
  
"Hi Charlie," said Cadance throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a big wet hug.  
  
"Get in here before you catch a cold," he said, stepping out of the doorway to let them through. They each had one small bag.  
  
Cadance and Cati sat down on the couch. "Nice place you got here, Charlie," said Cati noticing the piles of old newspapers, empty chip bags and beer cans, and various other forms of clutter. "Is this what you call a bachelor pad?"  
  
"I would have tidied up a bit," said Charlie as he sat down in the chair facing them. "But I didn't know I would be having company."  
  
"We would have called, but we needed to make a quick getaway," explained Cadance.  
  
"Oh dear Lord, what did you guys do this time?" asked Charlie. "You didn't blow up the Great Hall, did you?"  
  
"No," said Cati. "We actually didn't do anything... well, not much of anything." She told him the story of what had happened earlier that day.  
  
"Are you trying to tell me that they want to send you to Azkaban?" asked Charlie.  
  
"Well, they'd never be able to pull it off," said Cadance. "They're just trying to scare us into obedience."  
  
"I hate to take their side," said Charlie. "But maybe you two should start listening to the Ministry." They gave him nasty looks and he said, "Alright, never mind."  
  
"What do you think we should do, Charlie?" asked Cadance.  
  
"Well, I don't think they'll come looking for you here," said Charlie. "You guys can stay until things blow over. I'll call off work tomorrow and stay here with you."  
  
"Oh, no, Charlie," said Cati. "We'll be fine here. Go to work."  
  
"Well, then we better get to bed. Come on, you two can sleep in the big bed in my room. I'll sleep on the single bed in the guest room," he said.  
  
"Thanks, Charlie," said Cadance giving him one last hug. "I don't know what we'd do without you."  
  
"We'd probably have gone to Drew's and he'd be getting us drunk right now," said Cati.  
  
"Well, I'm glad you came here," he said. They all said goodnight and went to bed.  
  
The Next Morning  
  
"CHARLIE!" exclaimed a voice as the person attached to it rolled out of the fireplace in Charlie's kitchen. Charlie was half-shaved with his shirt unbuttoned as he ran out of the bathroom and down the hallway. "Gwen!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Where are they?" she asked looking under the table and then peering down the hallway.  
  
"Where are who?" asked Charlie trying to look innocent.  
  
Gwen held up a newspaper. "You're lucky Elaine didn't see this," she said. "I got the paper before she even woke up."  
  
"Oh shit," said Charlie taking it from her. Cadance and Cati made headlines in the morning edition of the Daily Prophet. "They're in my bedroom."  
  
Gwen walked down the hallway and into Charlie's bedroom. Charlie followed while reading the story. Cadance and Cati were sleeping. "Charlie, you animal!" reprimanded Gwen.  
  
"I slept in the guest bedroom," said Charlie.  
  
"Oh," said Gwen. They went back to the living room. "What are you planning on doing with them?"  
  
"Well, they can stay here until this whole thing blows over," said Charlie.  
  
"Charlie, the Ministry is hunting for them," said Gwen. "And I'm sure their uncles are worried sick."  
  
"The Ministry won't find them here," said Charlie.  
  
"You really think so?" asked Gwen skeptically. "Because this is the first place I thought to look."  
  
Cadance and Cati came into the room, sleepily rubbing their eyes. "Gwen? What are you doing here?" asked Cati with a yawn.  
  
"Nice shirt, Charlie," said Cadance eyeing Charlie's unbuttoned shirt.  
  
Charlie looked down and started buttoning his shirt up. "You're in the newspaper," said Charlie nodding to the paper, which was now sitting on the arm of the chair.  
  
"Oh my God, look at my hair in that picture!" exclaimed Cati. She paused a second and noticed Cadance giving her a weird look. "Sorry, I just went Uptown Girl on you there."  
  
"Yeah," said Cadance going back to the newspaper. "Most of this stuff isn't true!"  
  
Gwen put a hand to her face and faked a look of surprise. "Oh my God, the Daily Prophet isn't accurate! That's a shocker!" she exclaimed. "Well, I better be going before Elaine or Morgouse wakes up and finds out that I'm not there. The shit will really hit the fan. It's my day to make coffee."  
  
"Gwen, you're 23 years old. Aren't you tired of living with your sisters?" asked Charlie.  
  
"I'm a triplet. You don't just split up sets of three," said Gwen, as she disappeared into the kitchen to leave via the fireplace.  
  
"That's it. I'm staying home today," said Charlie.  
  
"Why?" asked Cadance in surprise.  
  
"Come on, Cadance! If Gwen can find you here, then the Ministry definitely can!" exclaimed Charlie. "I'm not taking any chances and leaving you guys home alone."  
  
"Charlie, just go to work; we'll be fine, I promise," said Cadance. "Cati and I brought the invisibility cloak from my uncle's office in case of an emergency."  
  
"Well, alright," said Charlie. "But be careful."  
  
"We will, just go to work," said Cati.  
  
Two Weeks Later

Charlie Apparated to his front door after work. To his shock, he found four people standing there; his own father, Lucius Malfoy, and two people he didn't know. "Dad, what are you doing here?" he asked.  
  
"Waiting for you to get home," he said. "I'm sorry, but they have to search your house."  
  
"What? Why?" he asked, but he already knew.  
  
"Come off it, Weasley, you know that those two miserable brats have gone missing," said Malfoy. "We have reason to believe that they might be here."  
  
Inwardly Charlie prayed for two things; that Gwen hadn't gotten drunk recently and that Cadance and Cati were hiding right now.  
  
"We have the proper papers," said one of the two people Charlie didn't know. He handed him a search warrant.  
  
"This isn't signed by Cornelius Fudge," observed Charlie as he looked over the paper.  
  
"No, it's signed by Dolores Umbridge," said Malfoy. "She is the Senior Undersecretary to the Minster and the Hogwarts High Inquisitor. She is using her resources at Hogwarts to help conduct this search and as a School Governor I have gotten involved."  
  
"Thanks for the History Lesson," said Charlie dully.  
  
"And, as you can see, this warrant was cosigned by Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall," said Malfoy, pointing to the page.  
  
"I can read, thank you," said Charlie. "I'll let you in." He put his key in the lock and jiggled it around a little, hoping that Cadance and Cati would hear and catch on to what was happening. Then he opened the door and stepped in first saying, a bit louder than normal, "Right this way. Would anyone like a drink or anything?"  
  
"No, we'll just get this over with," said Mr. Weasley. "Let's start in the basement." They all went down. Charlie was about to follow when he was grabbed from behind and pulled in the other direction. The door seemed to close on its own. Then Cadance and Cati appeared; Cati holding an invisibility cloak. She tossed it on a nearby chair.  
  
"What the hell are they doing here, Charlie?" asked Cadance.  
  
"Oh I just thought I'd invite them over for a bit of tea," said Charlie. "Why do you think they're here?!"  
  
"Damn," said Cadance.  
  
"Go into my bedroom," said Charlie. He ushered them down the hallway and into his room. He handed them the search warrant. "Cadance, your uncle cosigned this. He must be really worried about you or else he wouldn't have cooperated."  
  
"I miss him," said Cadance. "I miss everyone... even Snape."  
  
"Hell, I even miss Percy!" said Cati.  
  
"I'm not going to trial," said Cadance. "We've got to hide."  
  
"I'll get the invisibility cloak and we'll hide in the closet," said Cati. She poked her head out the door and then left. There was a few seconds pause and then they heard Cati loudly string off a line of swear words; a few of which Cadance and Charlie had never heard before. Then they heard another voice shout a spell.  
  
"Shit," said Charlie. He pointed his wand at the door and it slammed and locked magically.  
  
"Charlie, what are you doing?" asked Cadance. "The game is over. I don't want to get arrested, but I'm not going to let you get arrested either as an accomplice."

"But..."

"No buts. I can handle this. Look, Charlie, the Ministry is like a game of solitaire," said Cadance. She held out her hand. A deck of cards had appeared in it. "Every ministry member is different, just like every card. In order to beat the game, you just have to get your cards in order." She bent back the top of the cards and shot them in Charlie's face just as they heard pounding on the door. "Thanks for everything, Charlie." The door got blasted off its hinges. Lucius Malfoy walked in.  
  
"Wonderful," said Malfoy as he directed the two people with him and Mr. Weasley to grab Cadance. On their way out of his room, Charlie heard Cadance telling Malfoy just what she thought of him. Charlie looked down and saw that all the cards had landed in a pile. He bent down and picked them up and looked at them. They were in order, starting with the Ace of Spades and ending with the King of Hearts.  
  
-------------End Flashback ----------  
  
"Wow, that was corny," said Kala tossing the rest of her popcorn behind her head. "What ended up happening?"  
  
"Well, we got hauled into the Ministry and Cati told half the Wizengamot exactly what she thought of them," said Cadance. "Then Snape showed up and hoodwinked them."  
  
"How?" asked Charlie.  
  
"He sneered. Very scary," said Cati.  
  
"I can't believe you hired that woman," said Cadance to McGonagall. "I wouldn't have left if I would have known! I wouldn't have left those students in her hands."  
  
"She was the only one to apply. I can't find a Transfiguration Teacher either! I'm still teaching it! And Hagrid wants to retire from teaching and just work on the grounds, but he won't until I find a replacement. Guess what... there isn't one," said McGonagall.  
  
"What next? Malfoy teaching Potions?!" exclaimed Cadance.  
  
"Umm... Actually," said McGonagall a little sheepishly.  
  
"OH GREAT!" exclaimed Cadance. "THIS PLACE IS GOING TO THE DOGS EVER SINCE MOLDIE-VOLDIE WAS VANQUISHED HERE!"  
  
"Gee thanks," said McGonagall. "You know, I am doing the best I can."  
  
"Ah, Minerva, I'm sorry," said Cadance. "I wasn't implying that you're a bad Headmistress. I was just trying to say that people are too creeped out to work here."  
  
"Oh, you should try offering a good dental plan!" exclaimed Kala. They all gave her a weird look. "What? I own a demon bar! It's hard for me to get employees, too! That's what I do."  
  
"Right," said McGonagall eyeing Kala strangely.  
  
"Well, perhaps we should get going," said Cadance.  
  
"You're not going to stay and talk with Umbridge?" asked Cati.  
  
"You mean fight with her?" asked Cadance. "No, I'm not. Sometimes you just have to put your past behind you."  
  
"That's not at all like the Cadance that I used to know," said Kala. "Is this a product of motherhood?"  
  
"It's just like the Cadance I know," said Cati. She turned and stormed off.  
  
"What was that all about?" asked Charlie.  
  
"I'll go with her," said Bill. "To, you know, make sure she's okay." He followed in the direction she had gone off in.  
  
"Old rumors will start up again," said Cadance.  
  
"I bet they're snogging," said Kala.  
  
"See," said Cadance.  
  
Just then the door to the classroom opened and students began filing out. They looked at the four adults standing in the hallway. Most of them looked like they wanted to say something to Cadance but stopped at the sight of their Headmistress standing with her. One boy, however, went as far as to flash her a thumbs up and nod his head.  
  
Cadance however stood perfectly still with a stony look on her face identical to the one McGonagall wore as they watched the students walk by. Kala and Charlie exchanged a look.  
  
As soon as all of the students were gone, Umbridge came to the door. "We're leaving," said Cadance, turning towards McGonagall. "We'll keep in touch."  
  
"What did you say to make her give up, Headmistress?" asked Umbridge with mock innocence.  
  
"She came to this mature decision on her own, Dolores," answered McGonagall. Cadance, Charlie, and Kala were already walking down the hallway. Charlie had his arm around Cadance's waist and Kala looked disappointed to be walking away from a fight.  
  
"I understand," said Umbridge loudly. "She never would talk with anyone more powerful than her when that Nuperson girl wasn't around to back her up. I don't see her anywhere now. Is she off getting knocked up by mudbloods like her mother? Or perhaps by that son of muggle-loving fool Weasley boy."  
  
Cadance, Charlie, and Kala whipped around instantly. They started back down the hallway, their eyes narrowed. "Dolores," McGonagall reprimanded. "Those comments were entirely uncalled for and inappropriate and unacceptable for a Hogwarts instructor!"  
  
"Yeah, and it completely pissed me off," said Cadance.  
  
"Well, what are you going to do about it, Tinkerbelle," asked Umbridge.  
  
"Nothing," hissed Cadance.  
  
"Really?" asked Umbridge.  
  
"No," said Cadance. Then she punched her in the face.  
  
"And the maturity goes right out the window," sighed McGonagall.  
  
"Listen up, Umbridge, because I'm going to say this once and only once," said Cadance. "I will kick your ass if I find out that you treat these kids the way you treated us. And I'm sure that Minerva will want to be looking into what you're teaching them."  
  
"You can't talk to me like that!" exclaimed Umbridge with her hand over her bruised eye. "I'm the Deputy Headmistress!"  
  
Cadance looked at McGonagall for an explanation. She shrugged and said, "Flitwick didn't want the responsibilities."  
  
"Headmistress, are you going to let her talk to me like that?" asked Umbridge.  
  
"Dolores, please just let them walk away in peace," said McGonagall. "And while they go find Cati and Bill, you and I can have a nice long talk about appropriate behavior for a Hogwarts professor and go over your lesson plans. You wouldn't want Cadance to kick your ass, now would you?"  
  
Umbridge was struck speechless and the three young witches and wizards walked away. As soon as they were out of hearing range, Kala burst out laughing. "With all the horrible, twisted things you could have done to her using your Sorceress powers, you chose to punch her?" she questioned as she laughed.  
  
"Kala, that would have been personal gain," said Cadance.  
  
"Personal gain my foot," said Kala. "You were given those powers with a lot of responsibilities. You should at least be allowed a little personal gain to make up for it."  
  
"You know that's not allowed," said Cadance.  
  
"Since when did you care about what's allowed and what's not?" asked Kala.  
  
"Since I became a mom," said Cadance. "I really wish Cati could see that."  
  
"Don't worry," said Charlie, putting his arm around her. "Once she spends time with Melinda, she'll understand that being a parent changes you."  
  
"Maybe coming back here was a mistake," sighed Cadance. "We turned everything up-side-down. We've invaded my sister's personal space, pulled Cati out of a life she was used to, and got in a fight with a Hogwarts professor."  
  
"Not to mention putting your daughter in an environment that could potentially kill her, and get in a bar brawl in Australia," added Kala. "But you know you're happy here so deal with it."

-------------------------------------

Cati and Bill walked around the Quidditch Pitch in silence. Students were getting of class and several had decided to enjoy sunshine. It was late May and finals were over and they would be going home for the summer shortly.  
  
Bill had tried to strike up conversation but Cati seemed unwilling to talk so he gave up for a while. Eventually Cati seemed to grow tired of the Quidditch Pitch so without a word spoken between them they left and walked down by the Forbidden Forest.  
  
"It's oddly quiet," said Cati. The lack of silence startled Bill for a second.  
  
"Yeah," he said. "It's nice and quiet. Romantic even."  
  
"No, no, no Bill," said Cati. "Listen."  
  
"I don't hear anything," he said.  
  
"Exactly," said Cati. "A minute ago the birds were singing and you could hear other animals from the forest, too. It's never this quiet."  
  
"Hey, yeah," said Bill. "That's odd."  
  
"Something very weird is going on here," said Cati. Her hand went instinctively to her pocket and her fingers tightened around her wand.  
  
Suddenly the sky grew dark and it began to pour.  
  
"This is not normal," said Cati.  
  
End Chapter  
  
Wow, that was a long chapter. Not one of my best either. Oh well. Please Review!


	5. Disney Magic

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as someone else's.

A/N: Okay, so the last chapter wasn't one of my bests, but whatever. I hope this chapter is better.

Cati and Bill took off running for the front doors as it began raining cats and dogs. By the time they got inside they were completely drenched and mud splattered. "What the hell is up with this weather lately?" asked Cati. "That's the second time in the past week that I've been caught outside in a freakish storm. And the first time I ruined my favorite outfit."

"You never thought about clothes or anything before," said Bill.

"They were my leather pants," said Cati. "And my leather tube top. Nothing says 'I'm going to kick your ass' like leather."

"Never mind," said Bill.

They started walking down the hallway tracking water and mud along behind them. They were almost to the staff room when they heard voices coming from inside it. The door was ajar. They stood by it to listen to what was going on inside.

"Well, things could have gone worse, Minerva," said voice from inside. It sounded like Professor Sprout.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," said McGonagall.

"Well, she didn't kill her," said Sprout.

"No, she didn't," agreed McGonagall.

"So let's move on to the next crisis," said Sprout. "What are we going to do about that demon?"

Cati looked at Bill and mouthed, "What demon?" Bill just shrugged.

"Well, he came for Cadance once because he wanted to get to Albus," said Minerva. "He wanted to stop him from forming the Order of the Phoenix again. At the time, we thought it was odd because we didn't know we'd have to form it again. He seems to have knowledge of the future. So I'm guessing that he's trying to stop us from forming it again, which means we're going to need to in the future. Only Cadance can form it since she's the oldest, so if he kills her and then kills Jen, the Order couldn't form again. That's assuming that he doesn't know about Melinda."

"We could ask Sybill to look into the future for us," said Professor Sprout.

"Are you kidding me?" asked McGonagall.

"It was just a suggestion," said Sprout.

"Do you suppose the demon is causing all this weird weather?" asked McGonagall.

"I'm no expert, Minerva," said Sprout. "But I think it would take much more than an Order-hating demon to affect the weather. Does Cadance know that this particular demon has reared its ugly head again?"

"No, I thought I should break all the bad news slowly. I told her about Umbridge first and then I was going to tell her about the demon," said McGonagall. "But there was this weird coincidence earlier. Cadance flashbacked to the last time she met this particular demon."

Cati and Bill, still silently listening outside the door, gasped. They knew that the last thing they needed now was to have to deal with that demon.

Suddenly from somewhere down the hallway there was a loud scream. Cati and Bill looked in that direction confusedly. They didn't even know the door was about to burst open until they were fell backwards on the floor clutching their heads. McGonagall and Sprout were standing there looking at them incredulously.

"Cati! Bill!" exclaimed McGonagall. "What _are_ you doing? Did you scream?"

"No," groaned Cati.

"It came from down there," said Bill, clutching his head with one hand and pointing down the hallway with the other.

"I think I'm losing vision in my right eye!" moaned Cati.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" asked McGonagall holding up three fingers.

"One, two, five," said Cati counting.

McGonagall cocked and eyebrow and then shrugged. "Close enough. Let's go," she said.

Cati and Bill got up off the floor and then all darted down the hallway. They almost ran smack into Cadance, Charlie and Kala as they came bolting around a corner.

"Who screamed?" asked Kala.

"I don't know," said Cati. "Let's try down there." She pointed down a third corridor. When they got to the end there was nowhere to go except the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. They went inside and saw a demon holding a very astonished Professor Umbridge at knifepoint in front of a few of her students who had dropped by to ask some questions about their final grades.

"You!" exclaimed Cadance.

"WHOA! DE JA VU!" exclaimed Cati.

"Hey! Isn't that the demon from the flashback?" asked Kala.

"My, Cadance, how you've grown," said the demon.

"Could this day get any worse?" asked Cadance.

Just then Draco Malfoy came running in. "I heard a scream," he said.

"It's official," said Cadance. "Everyone in this world who now hates me is here. Draco, if you heard a scream why did it take you so long to get here?"

"Well, I had to come up from the dungeons and I couldn't _run_ or else my robes wouldn't billow menacingly right. I've got a lot to live up to. I've taken over for the king robe-billower," he said in defense.

"Hello!" exclaimed the demon in exasperation. "Focus on the issues! I'm holding your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher hostage! Fork over Cadance or I will kill her."

"You want Cadance because why?" asked Kala.

"She can form the Order of the Phoenix again!" exclaimed the demon. "Don't you see?! That's bad for the evil community!"

"If you think I'm going to let you kill me in order to save that sorry excuse for a human being, you are sadly mistaken," snorted Cadance.

"Cadance!" reprimanded McGonagall.

"What?!" exclaimed Cadance defensively. "You know I'd save this character before I'd save that bitch!" She jerked her thumb at Malfoy.

"Oh really?" he asked. He pushed Umbridge out of the way and reached for Malfoy. Cadance, Cati, and Kala all reached into their pockets and pulled out knives and threw them at the demon before he reached Malfoy. The demon caught fire and vanished. "I hope he's really vanquished this time," said Cati.

"Me too," said Cadance.

"Minerva! I quit!" exclaimed Umbridge. "This job is _not_ worth it!"

"Not worth what?" asked Cadance.

"You!"

-------------------------------------

Sirius plugged his fingers in his ears. "Make it stop!" he exclaimed running around the living room of Jen's house. Wendy and Jen were shaking toys in front of Melinda's face trying to make her stop crying.

"Haven't you ever been around babies?" asked Wendy.

"No!" said Jen, shouting over Melinda. "In case you haven't noticed there were no babies at Hogwarts or in the Auror Training Program. And before I found out I was a witch I lived in a frickin' group home! There were no babies there; people tended to adopt _them_. What about you? I paid a visit to the Charmed Ones this morning and there are TWO babies there!"

"Yeah, but Piper was smart enough to never leave me alone with them!" exclaimed Wendy.

"Sirius, you were around a lot when Harry and I were babies. What did you do when we started to cry?" asked Jen.

"Called Lily!" answered Sirius.

The crying grew louder and Sirius began to scream as he ran back and forth across the room. When he hit one wall, he would turn around and run back.

"Didn't you learn anything from the Charmed Ones!?" asked Jen, who now had to talk about Melinda's crying _and_ Sirius's screaming.

"I learned how to heat up a bottle! Should I go heat up a bottle!" exclaimed Wendy.

"No, you've heated up two already!" said Jen. "Sirius, for the love of _God_!" She whipped around and pointed her wand at him. "Stupefy!" He fell over and lay still.

"Thank you!" exclaimed Wendy. "Maybe we should try to call Cadance."

"No, I don't want her to think I can't take care of Melinda!" said Jen.

"But you can't," said Wendy.

"Yeah, but Cadance doesn't need to know that," said Jen.

"Ah. Right," said Wendy.

Wendy thought for a second and then called, "LEO!" There was a swirl of lights and then Leo, who was not only a White Lighter but also Piper's husband and the father of Wyatt and Chris, orbed in (A/N: Remember the Charmed Ones from earlier that day). "What?! What's wrong!?" he asked hurriedly.

"It won't stop crying!" exclaimed Wendy. "I think Sirius broke her!"

Leo noticed baby Melinda sitting up in a chair crying her eyes out. "So this is Melinda," he said. "How old is she?"

"About 15 months," said Jen.

"Well, it looks like she's got some teeth coming in," said Leo kneeling in front of her. He picked her up and put his finger in her mouth. She stopped crying.

Jen and Wendy looked at each other with their mouths hanging open. At the same time, they dropped to their knees in a groveling pose. "All hail Leo," said Jen.

"Leo is our hero," said Wendy.

"It's almost as if there was a magic button inside her mouth and you pushed it!" exclaimed Jen.

There was another swirl of white lights as Leo gave Melinda to Jen. Chris, Leo's son (whom we met last chapter) orbed in. "Dad, I've been looking all over for you. I wanted to talk..." he trailed off when he noticed who was also in the room. "Hi." Wendy hugged him.

"Chris, this is..." Wendy began indicating to Jen.

"Jen Dumbledore. We met this morning," said Chris interrupting her.

"Right," said Wendy. "And that's Sirius. He was going crazy so Jen stunned him." She knelt by Sirius and smacked his face lightly a few times.

He sat upright. "Where's the crying?! It's quiet! Oh my god! I've gone DEAF! Wendy smacked him across the face. "Thanks. I needed that." He stood up and then helped Wendy to her feet.

"Sirius, that's Leo," said Wendy. "You already know him."

"Right," said Sirius shaking hands with Leo. "The last time we met was hardly the time for proper introductions. We were a little preoccupied with vanquishing the Dark Lord and all."

"This is his son Chris," said Wendy indicating to Chris.

"The Dark Lord has a son?"

"No, Leo," said Wendy rolling her eyes.

"Aren't you supposed to be a year and a half?" asked Sirius, shaking his hand.

"This is the 23-year-old version," answered Leo. "He's visiting from the future."

"Very cool," said Sirius. "So am I still a sexy hunk of man flesh in the future?"

"You don't have to answer that, Chris," said Jen.

"Wasn't planning on it," said Chris.

"Don't worry, Sirius, you'll always be a sexy hunk of man flesh to me," said Wendy.

"Wendy, I'll never know why you clipped your White Lighter wings for him," said Jen, shaking her head. "I'll go get some drinks for all of us. Chris, why don't you come and help me?" She passed Melinda to Wendy and headed into the kitchen.

"I'm smarter than they are, you know," said Chris, leaning in the doorway to the kitchen. He looked in the living room to make sure that everyone else was occupied. He stepped inside the kitchen. Jen took out her wand and waved it. A tray of drinks appeared. She looked up at Chris. "What's on your mind?" he asked.

"Today when you saw me with Piper, you called me 'Mrs. Weasley'," said Jen. "And I was wondering if it was really because you got me confused with my sister."

"Confidentially," said Chris, checking again to make sure the others weren't listening. "No. But then again, you already knew that, didn't you?" He lifted her left hand. What looked like a silver band was on a very important ring finger. He twisted it around to reveal a diamond.

"Confidentially, I haven't given my answer yet," said Jen. "He asked me a little after I got back from your house this morning and that's my conversation with you clicked in my brain. But I'm not sure if I'm ready to get married. I only got out of Hogwarts last year."

"And you were wondering if I could tell you what your choice is?" asked Chris, though it was more of a statement than a question.

"Yeah," said Jen. "But I think I'm okay now."

"Good," said Chris. "Then let's go." He grabbed the tray of drinks for her and they walked back into the living room. Cadance, Charlie, and Cati had come back from Hogwarts and they had brought Kala and Bill with them.

"Hey," said Jen. "How was the visit?"

"Drinks!" said Cadance. "Thank God!" She took a cup from the tray Chris was holding. She took one sip and then spit it out. "What is this?!"

"Lemonade," said Jen.

"I need something stronger," said Cadance. "Where's the rum?"

"Cadance, you don't drink," said Jen.

"I do now," said Cadance. "Starting right now!"

"I'll handle this. I'm a bartender," said Kala walking into the kitchen, taking the tray with her.

"Cadance, what's going on?" asked Jen.

"I think I'm having a panic attack," said Cadance. "How can you tell if you're having a panic attack? Where's Melinda? What the hell is going on here? What's Leo doing here? Where you attacked by demons?"

"Whoa. Cadance. Breathe!" said Chris, steering her to a chair and kneeling in front of her.

Cadance stared at him for a second and then said, "Who the hell are you?!"

"I'm Chris," said Chris.

"He's my son," said Leo.

"But your son is two and a half and his name is Wyatt!" exclaimed Cadance in confusion.

"I also have an 18 month old son named Chris now," said Leo. Cadance looked at him like he had lobsters crawling out of his ears. "This Chris is my Chris from the future. The 18-month-old version is at home."

"Oh God," said Cadance. "I can't take this right now. I think I'm going to start hyperventilating."

"Breathe!" exclaimed Chris.

"What happened?!" asked Jen again.

"It's been a long day," said Cati. "First we saw a woman we hate and got in a fight with her. Then a demon who traumatized us when we were sixteen came back for another round. Then Cadance, Charlie, and I got hired at Hogwarts. And _then_ McGonagall told us that she _knew_ the demon was back but she didn't tell us."

"And to top it all off," said Cadance. "The return of that particular demon, which we vanquished by the way, means that something bad is going to happen in the future."

"How?" asked Leo.

"Well, this demon tried to stop the Order from forming again. He came back now for the same purpose, so that means something is going to happen in the future that is going to make us need to form the Order."

"On the bright side, earlier to day I put it out on the demon hotline that if anyone hurts Melinda they'd have the Ministry to deal with and that I would personally hunt down every demon I could find and brutally vanquish them. She's not going to be attacked," said Cati.

"So now all we have to worry about is the future," said Cadance. Then she got this strange look on her face. "Future..." she repeated dazedly. She lunged forward and pinned Chris to the floor. "Alright, future-boy! Spill!"

"Whoa! Hey!" exclaimed Charlie passing Melinda to Cati and pulling Cadance off Chris.

Just then, Kala came in carrying a tray full of drinks. "Ok, folks, these ones are on the house," said Kala. "Just don't ask what's in 'em." She handed one to Cadance who drunk the whole thing in one gulp.

"I'm feeling a little better now," said Cadance.

It was then that the front door opened and Remus's voice called out "Hello!?!"

"In here, Remus," said Jen.

He walked in. "Sorry. I didn't know you had company," he said.

"No, it's alright," said Jen. "That's Leo and that's his son Chris from the future. Don't ask. It's a long story."

"You missed Cadance's panic attack," said Sirius.

"That's a long story too," said Jen. She turned to Cadance. "Did you say something earlier about having a job? You know, when you were having your panic attack?"

"Guess who just quit at Hogwarts?" asked Bill.

"Who?"

"Umbridge."

"No way!" exclaimed Jen. "She was a nightmare. I had her for my NEWT year. I was lucky they accepted me into the Auror Training program with my awful Defense Against the Dark Arts scores. She quit?"

"And now Cadance is taking over," said Bill.

"Again," said Sirius.

"And Charlie is the new Care of Magical Creatures Professor. Hagrid retired from teaching but is going to continue being the Groundskeeper. I will be teaching Transfiguration," said Cati.

"So you guys will be moving out soon?" asked Jen to Cadance and Charlie.

"Oh yeah," said Cadance. "That's right. You'll get your house to yourself again."

"What are you going to do with Melinda while you're both working?" asked Leo.

Cadance and Charlie looked at each other. "Oh my God!" exclaimed Cadance. "I'm a horrible mother! I forgot about my own baby!!" She took the baby out of Cati's arms and began sobbing while hugging her.

Charlie leaned into Chris and whispered, "Now I know you're probably not allowed to talk about it, but in the future does Cadance still act like this?"

"Don't worry," said Chris.

"Cadance, we don't start until next school year. We have about four months to figure something out," said Cati.

"Well, I think Chris and I need to be heading home," said Leo. "Piper, Phoebe, and Paige probably need us. You know how it is. Demons to vanquish. Innocents to save."

"Oh yeah," said Cati. "Bye!"

Leo and Chris orbed out.

"I can't believe you attacked him, Cadance!" exclaimed Wendy as soon as they had gone.

"She attacked someone?" asked Remus.

"Yeah," answered Wendy. "Chris."

"Sorry! I snapped!" exclaimed Cadance.

"He was kinda cute," said Cati.

"Oh please, Cati!" said Bill. "He's really only 18 months old. You're talking about someone who Melinda could end up marrying!"

-------------------------------------

"Cadance! Let's go!" exclaimed Cati as she came in the front door of Jen's house. She had been staying across the street at Ron and Hermione's house lately. It was about a month later.

Cadance came down the hallway shushing her. "The baby's taking a nap," she said. "After they hit the age of one it's hard to get them to do that."

"Sorry," said Cati. "But we gotta go. I was scrying and I found a pack of demons. Let's go vanquish them."

Cadance cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why?" she asked.

"What kind of question...?" began Cati, then she stopped. "What are you wearing?"

"What do you mean?" asked Cadance.

"You can't fight demons in that!" exclaimed Cati. "That's a skirt! And those are heels!!!!"

"But I wasn't planning on fighting demons today," said Cadance. "And I'd like to point out that the boots you're wearing have heels. And so do the official Ministry-issued Auroring boots."

"But these are ass-kicking boots!" argued Cati. "Those are stilettos."

"You're crazy," said Cadance.

"Alright, look, it doesn't matter what you're wearing now. Just go change into something more ass-kicking friendly," said Cati.

"But, Cati, I don't see why we need to provoke the demons," said Cadance. "Look, aside from that random vanquish last week and an accidental vanquish right before returning to the Wizarding World, I haven't even thought about vanquishing demons since the night we helped defeat Voldemort."

"Well, then this will be perfect practice. Now go get changed," said Cati.

"No, Cati, you don't get it," said Cadance. "I have a family to look out for now."

"Wait," said Cati. "Are you trying to tell me that you don't _want_ to vanquish demons?"

"No," said Cadance. "I'm trying to tell you that I _can't_. I have to think of my daughter. I can't go out and do stupid stuff..."

"So now protecting innocent lives is stupid?" asked Cati, her voice rising.

"Cati, that's not what I meant and you know it," argued Cadance.

"But you're not going to do it anymore?" asked Cati.

"No," said Cadance shaking her head. "I'm not."

"But, Cadance, it's your job!" argued Cati.

"Keep your voice down," said Cadance. "And it's not my job. My job is Hogwarts Professor. And mother."

"That's not what I mean," said Cati. "I was referring to the fact that we're Sorceresses and it's our _duty_."

"Our duty?" asked Cadance. "I think we've done our duty already! Cati, we helped vanquish the Dark Lord! I think now we're entitled to a little down-time with our families! Or at least what's left of them."

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, what's left of my family is either dead or in hiding," said Cati.

"You're a part of our family, Cati," said Cadance. "I thought you would understand. I don't want Melinda to have to grow up like I did."

"Was your childhood that awful, Cadance?" asked Cati. "I think we did pretty well, all things considered!"

"Oh, and you _never_ thought, 'Gee, I wish my parents were here,'. I know I did!"

"Cadance, there was a Dark Lord then!" exclaimed Cati. "He's gone!"

"Sure, he's gone," said Cadance. "But that doesn't mean that we can't still die. I'm _done_ chasing demons."

"Alright, I'll make a deal with you," said Cati. "I'll try to be supportive of the fact that you're... how do I phrase this... _retiring_ from being a sorceress, turning your back on who you are, and running away from the life that your uncle died to ensure you would be able to keep on living..."

"Now, Cati, don't you dare bring him into this," cut in Cadance.

"I'm not finished yet," said Cati. "I'll accept all that if you can promise me that you won't let the fact that you're done vanquishing demons interfere with saving innocents and you won't let it affect any of the other sorceress around you."

"It's a deal," said Cadance.

"This means that you can't stop Melinda from using her powers," said Cati. "And if a demon attacks someone around you, you sure as hell better have a vanquish ready."

"I promise," said Cadance.

"Alright," said Cati. "Now I've got some demons to take care of." She snapped her fingers and an Indiana Jones hat appeared in her hand. She flipped it on to her head. "Aren't you going to miss it?"

"No," said Cadance, "not at all."

Cati tipped her hat and walked out the door, where she promptly Apparated. Charlie came up behind Cadance and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked.

"Positive," said Cadance. "Charlie, I need to go to see Harry for a second. Melinda's sleeping. Will you get her out of her crib if she wakes up?"

"Sure," said Charlie. Cadance pecked him on the cheek then walked across the street to Harry and Ginny's house. Everyone was at work, but Cadance knew that Harry had the day off.

Cadance walked into Harry's house and saw that Harry was sleeping on the living room couch. "Major Potter!" exclaimed Cadance. "Are you sleeping on the job?"

Harry sat bolt upright and looked about madly. "Oh, Cadance," he said scooting over to make room for her.

"So, are you, like, the youngest Major in the history of the Force?" asked Cadance.

"I think so," said Harry. "What can I do for you?"

"I was just thinking of something that we kind of talked about that day Ginny was kidnapped," said Cadance. "Something Cati and I were just talking about kind of set it off."

"I see," said Harry. "What is it?"

Cadance was about to open her mouth to answer when the front door opened and Ron called "Harry!"

"In here," said Harry.

Ron came in the living room. "Ginny and Hermione just called me at work. They said to meet us here."

"They called? Weren't they at work with you?" asked Harry.

Ron shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "I was sleeping, mate."

"You know, when I was on the Force, we weren't allowed to sleep on the job," said Cadance.

"When you were on the Force, there was a Dark Lord," said Harry.

"That's actually why I'm here," said Cadance. "That day Ginny was kidnapped we sort of talked about whether or not the Dark Lord could come back."

"Oh yeah," said Harry.

"I've thought about that a little bit," said Ron.

"He can't come back," said Harry.

"That's what I thought," said Cadance. "But then again, that's what I thought the first time until my 7th Year at Hogwarts."

"Everyone thought he was gone, but he wasn't," said Ron. "How do we know he's really gone this time?"

"He can't come back this time," said Harry with finality. "Not when everything is going so well. He _can't_."

Just then Ginny and Hermione came running through the front door. "We have something to tell you," said Hermione beaming.

"Hermione and I," said Ginny pausing for dramatic effect. "We're both pregnant!"

Ron just stared with a glazed-over, happy expression on his face. Harry turned to Cadance and repeated, "_He can't_."

"I hope you're right," said Cadance.

And so the years progressed. Hermione and Ginny both had their children. Hermione had her baby first. It was a girl and they named it Molly. Harry and Ginny had a son and they named him James.

Jen and George announced their engagement. They weren't going to get married for a few more years though. They said they were in no hurry.

Cadance, Cati, and Charlie began teaching. While Cadance and Charlie were working, Melinda would stay with either Mrs. Weasley or, later on, with Hermione or Ginny since they were on Maternity leave.

About three years after Cadance and Charlie returned to the Wizarding World, Cati and Bill dropped a bomb on everyone at the end of the year Hogwarts Feast. James and Molly were a little over two years old. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Bill had come to the feast. Molly and James were with a babysitter.

Cadance had been chatting animatedly with Cati, who was sitting on her right, while Charlie (on her left) tried to convince McGonagall that dragons were acceptable teaching tools.

"So, Bill and I stopped by Jen's house today to see how her Wedding Plans were going," said Cati.

"Oooh," said Cadance teasingly. "You and Bill? Oh la la!" She winked at her.

"You know what?!" exclaimed Cati causing more than a few students to look at her.

"Cati, I was just kidding!" said Cadance.

"No, no you weren't," said Cati. "Because it's true! Alright! I admit it! Bill and I have been secretly seeing each other for the past year and a half."

Everyone at the Head Table looked at Cati like she was crazy, except Bill who was chuckling. A few students were even listening.

"And what's more!" exclaimed Cati standing up. She reached into her pocket and shoved something on her finger. She held her hand out for everyone to see. There was a ring on it. "We're engaged."

There was silence. Then Cadance hopped to her feet, almost dropping Melinda, now four and a half, who was sleeping on her lap. "What!?"

Everyone turned to look at Bill. He stood up and slipped his arm around her waist. "We were going to tell you tomorrow," said Bill.

"Yeah," said Cati. "Because if we didn't, we wouldn't be able to get you to Disney World!"

"Why would we need to get to Disney World?" asked Cadance, who wasn't sure she wanted to know.

"Because we're getting married there in two days."

Everyone was in shock. The great hall was so quiet you could have heard a pin drop.

"Bill, I think we killed them," said Cati.

"Nah, it takes more than that to kill Cadance," Bill replied.

"You are my best friend and you didn't even tell me?!" exclaimed Cadance.

"How do you think I feel? He's my brother!" said Charlie.

Bill and Cati continued to grin at the people around them.

"So does this mean that you don't want to go then?" asked Cati smiling still.

"WHAT!? I've been waiting years for this moment! I wouldn't miss it for the world," said Cadance.

"Good," said Bill as Cati walked towards the other end of the staff table. "I think everyone else should have received their invitation by now."

Bill looked up as Cati came from talking to McGonagall.

"Did mom know about this?" asked Charlie.

"No, but dad did. We swore him to secrecy though," answered Bill.

"Mom will have crossed your name off the Will for this you know," said Charlie with a grin.

"Yeah, most likely. I 'm sure she'll be upset that I didn't tell her and then she'll be even worse when she finds out that dad knew and he didn't tell her right away," laughed Bill.

"You think this is funny, but she's really going to kill you," said Charlie very seriously.

"Nah, she likes me more than she likes you."

As dinner resumed Cadance continued her conversation with Cati. "Do you have the dress yet?"

"Yes," answered Cati.

"And the bridesmaids dresses?" asked Cadance.

"Yes."

"How did you do this alone?" asked Cadance incredulously.

"Your sister helped me."

"She knew before I did?!!" exclaimed Cadance.

"Mhmm."

"I see how it is. I've been your friend for how long?" asked Cadance.

"You were too busy, Teaching, watching Melinda, and so on and so forth. Besides, it's easier to plan a wedding with someone else who is also having a wedding," said Cati and started eating her dessert.

"So what are you doing after the wedding?"

"Staying in Disney."

"So when you get back, you and Bill are going to move his stuff into your overly large house?" asked Cadance.

"First off, allow me to remind you that your house is bigger than mine," said Cati with a smirk.

"And let me remind you that it is now _Jen's house_ and that I'm currently living at Hogwarts with my husband and daughter," interjected Cadance.

"And allow me to point out that while I still own my 'overly large house', as you call it, I _also_ live here. And Bill's stuff has been there for over a year. It was easy because no one ever contacted him when he was in Egypt anyway and he just kind of moved around when he was home. So when anyone asked, I had rented out a room to him."

"Yours right?" said Cadance raising her eyebrows suggestively. "So let me get this straight. I'm living at Hogwarts. _You're_ living at Hogwarts. And _Bill_ is living at your house."

"I guess you'll never know," said Cati with a smirk.

"That isn't a fair statement, Catalin," said Cadance.

"Life isn't fair Cadance," said Cati walking towards the door with Bill at her side and smiling at her friend. And with that the pair left the Great Hall in quiet discussion.

"Somewhere inside I always knew that this would happen. But I was beginning to doubt if it would happen or not," said Cadance to Charlie.

"I can't believe they were seeing each other right under our noses and no one even saw it coming," said Charlie.

"Mommy, what's happened to Uncle Bill?" asked Melinda sleepily.

"Uncle Bill and Aunt Cati are getting married in a few days, sweetie," said Cadance.

"Is this going to make Uncle Bill and Aunt Cati happy?"

"I think they are already happy, honey, but I'm sure it will make them happier."

Melinda put her head back down on Cadance's shoulder and Cadance smiled at Charlie. Life was good.

----------Day of Wedding----------

Cati paced back and forth in the large room in which Bell and she were awaiting the arrival of the bridal party.

"Cati, cut it out....you're making me nauseous," said Bill closing his eyes for a second.

She stopped pacing for a moment, stared at him and then continued to pace around the room. A few minutes later Cadance and Charlie, Jen and George, Kati Bell and Fred, Ron and Hermione, Harry and Ginny, Arabella and Remus, McGonagall and Mad-eye, Sirius and Wendy, and Kala and Frank the Boogie Man from Jen's basement Apparated into the room.

"AHHH! You're here!!" exclaimed Cati.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," said Bill. "She's been pacing and she was making me nauseous."

"Frank!!" exclaimed Jen, when she noticed he was there too.

"Cati, you invited Frank the Boogie Man that haunts my sister's basement to your wedding?" asked Cadance.

"Frank is the most awesome person in the world!" exclaimed Cati. "And he doesn't haunt anything!"

"Only you would have a demon in your wedding party," said Charlie laughing.

"Where are the kiddies?" asked Cati looking around for Melinda.

"We dropped them off with Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. They'll bring them with them when they come," said Cadance.

"Ok, so let's go then! There's so much Disney to see and so little time to see it all in. Here, everyone...your ears. You must wear them! And you must wear them at the reception too!"

Cati began passing out Mickey Mouse ears. She held out a pair to Cadance and Cadance just stared at them.

"Cati, I'd really rather not," laughed Cadance.

"Oh c'mon. For me?" Cat gave the most pitiful look in the world.

"Oh alright, but just this once," said Cadance as she donned the ears.

As they stepped out in to the sunlight Cati was already giving directions. "Now, the wedding is scheduled to take place at five-thirty sharp. The park closes at five today because of the wedding and some gentle persuading. You all have to report back to your assigned destination by no later than four-thirty. The current time is twelve-thirty PM. You are dismissed!"

"Aye, aye! General Mailbox!" said Fred as they departed.

Cati and Bill, Sirius and Wendy, and Cadance and Charlie grouped together as the rest dispersed in different directions. "Cati, how do you come up with theses crazy ideas?" asked Sirius once they started walking.

"Sirius," said Cati. "Must I remind you who it was that babysat for both Cadance and myself?"

"But it isn't my fault you come up with these things so don't blame me for it," said Sirius.

"He has a point Cati-cat. You are the queen of crazy ideas. Need I remind you of the time you were impersonating a secret service agent and ejecting people for the school property?" said Bill.

Cadance looked at Charlie and mouthed "Cati-cat?"And the two of them began to laugh.

"Catalin Marie Nuperson," said Cadance between laughs. "You're never going to live this down."

"Live what down?" asked Cati, quite confused.

"Cati-cat," said Cadance, bringing on another bout of laughter. It was at this point that Cati bolted. "Was it something I said?" asked Cadance wiping tears from her eye.

"No. Mickey Mouse," said Charlie and Bill together.

Once she returned they continued on their way through the park. Cati was talking about the adventures that her and Bill went on while he was in Egypt a few months ago.

"I thought that you were on duty," said Sirius.

"I was. In Egypt," said Cati.

"Is that Professor McGonagall?" asked Charlie looking over in the direction of a ride.

"Yeah it is, but she must have been dragged by someone to go on the _It's A Small World _ride," said Cati.

"Look," said Wendy. "It's Fred and George and Jen and Kala. So that's why she's on the ride."

"Actually, it looks like she's in a body bind." said Bill.

"That's just cruel and unusual punishment. I would much rather take double divination than ride the small world ride," said Cati shuttering.

"Do you want to know something else disturbing," asked Sirius. "Mad-eye is riding the merry-go-round and he's smiling."

"That's creepy," said Cati looking over in that direction.

Through the rest of the day and in between trips to Splash Mountain, they saw random people who would be at the wedding. They passed other members of the bridal party in lines for different rides. At one point they saw Professor Flitwick posing with Snow White for a picture.

At four-thirty on the button, Cadance and Wendy, led by Cati, walked into the designated changing room. Everyone was accounted for except for Ginny.

"Where is Ginny?" asked Cati.

"She's buying the picture of her with Chip and Dale," said Hermione.

Hair had already been started and so had make-up. "Why aren't you guys getting dressed?" asked Cati who was pulling a brush and a curling iron from her bag.

"Because you have the dresses," said Jen, through bobby pins in her teeth.

"I do? I wonder what I did with them," said Cati scrunching up her eyebrows. "OH! I remember now!"

She snapped her fingers and a large wardrobe appeared. She pulled the door open and revealed nine bridesmaids gowns and one wedding gown. She pulled one off the rack for them to see. They were a very light pale blue, short sleeved, empire waist, and full skirted. Above the waist line was intricate and beautiful embroidery done in sparkly thread. Attached to the hanger was a bag that contained the matching elbow length gloves, and mini tiaras for them to wear.

"It's a princess thing, you know? We're in Disney for gosh sakes!" exclaimed Cati.

"Oh Cati, these are pretty!" said Hermione reaching out to touch the smooth satin of the skirt.

"The names are on tags that are on the hangers," said Cati handing Cadance the one that was in her hand.

Cati pulled out her dress and hung it on a rack next to her mirror. She began to brush her shoulder length hair and grumbled about wanting to cut it but Bill said not until after the wedding. She took the three inch barrel curling iron and made fat corkscrew curls in her hair and left it down and took out her hair piece and placed it on the crown of her head.

"I'm the Cinderella, I get the big one," said Cati turning around to get her dress.

She took it out and began to put it on. It was pure white.

"Cati, you could see in a pitch black room with only that dress you know," said Ginny laughing.

"It's like _Ministry Auroring Robes _white," said Arabella laughing.

"I know!" said Cati. "And as much as I hate the color white, black just isn't the best color for a wedding dress."

The dress was halter style, A-line cut, elegant embroidery, and also a very full skirt. The dress seemed to sparkle on its own, giving off a sense of elegance, innocence, and beauty. Cati handed the train to Jen to attach. The train was chapel length and also embroidered in the same style as the actual dress.

"Were you involved in all of this, Jen?" asked Cadance.

"No, just most of it."

"Everyone ready?" asked Cati, pulling on her gloves.

"We need flowers Cate, I'll pass them out," said Jen.

"Is Jen your maid of honor?" asked Wendy.

"No, my best friend is the Matron of Honor," said Cati smiling at Cadance. "She's like my sister, she deserves it."

Jen handed Cati her bouquet of blue lilies and white roses and handed a bundle of white roses to Cadance and took her own bundle of blue lilies to her spot in line.

"I hate flowers, lets move out!" said Cati grabbing part of her skirt and heading for the door.

The entourage trooped down a set of steps and out into an open court yard. "Ok, that pathway over there takes you to where you need to be to process in. Your escort will be waiting for you. I am going to get into this pumpkin carriage and I'm gonna come in right after Cadance and Charlie get up to the alter. Remember, you all will be lining the red carpet," said Cati taking the footman's hand to get into the carriage. "I'll see you all there!

As promised the gentlemen were waiting for them when they arrived at the end of the walk way. Many, many chairs had been set up in front of Cinderella's Castle doorway. "My, don't we look handsome?" said Wendy to Sirius. "That is a nice tux."

"Bill picked them under Cati's orders."

The men's tuxes were black with platinum vests. The jacket was high neck and long with a slight flare towards the bottom of the jacket. The biggest button being at the neck and then smaller buttons all the way down the coat.

The place was packed with more than half of the Auroring Department, Hogwarts faculty and staff, Ministry faculty and staff. And above it all came a shrill voice.

"DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME ABOUT IT! THEY TOLD ARTHUR! BUT THEY DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME! I'M HIS MOTHER FOR GOD'S SAKES! HE'LL BE LUCKY IF I DON'T KILL HIM!"

"Looks like mum's found out," said Fred turning to Charlie.

"Bill, you're as good as dead," said Charlie patting him on the shoulder.

"She can't really be that mad, can she?"

"Oh yes Bill. You've hit the little red button that none of us are ever supposed to push," said George. The processional music began and Fred poked Bill.

"Go, everyone is sitting."

Bill walked straight up to his father and gave him a small nod and turned to face the procession. First was Kala and Frank the Boogie Man. When they reached the alter the turned and faced each other on opposite sides of the red carpet. The same with Sirius and Wendy, May-eye and McGonagall, Arabella and Remus, Ginny and Harry, Hermione and Ron, Kati and Fred, Jen and George. Then Cadance and Charlie came around the corner and walked straight up to the alter and up to Mr. Weasley. They split and Charlie took his place behind Bill and Cadance stood on the opposite side waiting for Cati. The music changed and the sound of horse hooves could be heard coming up the driveway. The attention of the audience shifted and watched as the white carriage pulled by white horses pulled up. The footman jumped down and opened the door and held out a hand. The first thing that everyone saw was a glass shoe. Then the rest of her appeared and stepped out the carriage. The footman fixed the train and she began her procession.

"Only Cati," said Cadance softly with a chuckle. "Only she would show up at her wedding in glass slippers."

Once she arrived at the alter she smiled at Cadance as she handed her bouquet to her. It was one of the rare and genuine Cati smiles.

"Who presents this woman to this man?" asked Mr. Weasley once the crowd was silent.

"I do," said a voice and the owner of it stood.

Cati looked over her shoulder and saw Drew sitting in the congregation smiling at her and he sat back down with someone she didn't recognize. Mr. Weasley continued on with the ceremony.

"Dear friends and family, we are gathered here to bear witness to the holy union of Catalin Marie Nuperson and William Reginald Weasley. The pair have composed vows for the both of them to recite."

Bill turned to Cati.

"I, William Reginald Weasley, take you, Catalin Marie Nuperson, to be my friend, my lover, the mother of my children and my wife. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph. I promise to cherish and respect you, to care and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and stay with you, for all eternity."

Cati wiped a tear out of her eye and repeated hers.

"I, Catalin Marie Nuperson, take you, William Reginald Weasley, to be my friend, my lover, the father of my children and my husband. I will be yours in times of plenty and in times of want, in times of sickness and in times of health, in times of joy and in times of sorrow, in times of failure and in times of triumph. I promise to cherish and respect you, to care and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and stay with you, for all eternity."

"The rings please?" said Mr. Weasley looking to Charlie.

He fished around in his pants pocket and removed a small box. Charlie opened the box and handed the rings to his father. Mr. Weasley handed the ring first to Bill. "Repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed. Take this as a token of my love and fidelity."

"With this ring, I thee wed. Take this as a token of my love and fidelity," said Bill and he slipped the diamond band onto her finger.

"Catalin, repeat after me," said Mr. Weasley handing a ring to her. "With this ring, I thee wed. Take this as a token of my love and fidelity."

"With this ring, I thee wed. Take this as a token of my love and fidelity."

Catalin put the ring onto Bill's finger and she smiled at him.

"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife!" said Mr. Weasley. "You may kiss your bride."

"Oh, I've been waiting for this moment for years! The first true kiss between the two that any of have seen!" said Cadance excitedly.

Bill leaned in and gave Cati a quick and gentle kiss and took her hand.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I am proud to introduce for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. William Reginald Weasley!"

Cati turned and took her bouquet from Cadance and walked down the aisle with Bill followed by Cadance and Charlie and the rest of the bridal party. There was a limousine waiting just at the bottom for them.

"Wedding pictures at the reception hall!" exclaimed Cati as she climbed in.

"Well that was spectacular! But it is also disappointing because now we can't get a rise out of you for liking Bill anymore," said Jen with a laugh.

"Yeah, no more, 'insert your own Bill-ish remark here' comments," said Cadance.

"I loved the glass shoe touch, Cati. It was really you," said Ginny. "Are they real glass?"

"You betchya! I had a hard time finding them."

"Where is the reception exactly?" asked Charlie.

"Oh, it's on the Disney Party Liner." said Bill.

"Don't the Disney characters go on that?" asked Hermione.

"Yep, and they'll be there! I can't wait to see Mickey!" exclaimed Cati.

"Who do you think is going to catch the bouquet?" asked Wendy.

"I dunno, but I'll pray for who ever does." said Cati.

The group had the party pictures taken before they got on the liner. Then the fun began. The DJ was already playing tunes and people were milling around. The bridal party went on ahead in and the boat cast off from harbor.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!! Mr. and Mrs. Bill Weasley!" exclaimed the DJ as Cati and Bill came in the two entrance doors.

Cati had replaced her tiara for a pair of Minnie ears with a bow and veil on it. They took their seats at the head table and dinner was served.

"Please don't do what you did at my wedding and start an all out food fight," said Cadance.

At this point Mrs. Weasley was making her way up to the head table. "Bill, mom at one o'clock....fifty feet and closing," said Fred.

Cati and Bill looked up at the same time to see her walking at almost mach nine.

"William Weasley! Catalin Nuperson...err...Weasley!"

"Yes mom?" asked Cati nervously.

"Congratulations sweeties! Welcome to the family honey, officially."

"You're not mad?" asked Bill.

"No honey, I was a little miffed but I wasn't mad. I'm quite happy. I just wanted to tell you that!" said Molly, leaning over the table and pecking each on the cheek before returning to the table.

"You're right, she does like you more. If I would have done that to her she would have killed me on the spot. I wouldn't have even made it to the front...she'd of just jumped up and killed me," said Charlie shaking his head.

Dinner continued as planned and once the plates had been taken away Bill nudged Cati. She looked up and saw a certain strawberry-blonde heading her way.

"DREW!"

He leaned across the table and pulled his sister into a tight squeeze then shook Bill's hand.

"Thanks for taking her off my hands. She can irritate you now," said Drew to Bill then turned to Cati. "Hey, you! Nice to see my little sister loves me enough to invite me to her wedding. I have someone else here who was a little confused when I brought him down and I think he still isn't caught up with the times," said Drew.

By this time Cadance and Charlie were paying attention and the four of them turned as someone made their way out of the tables. Both Bill and Charlie gasped.

"Hi Bill, hi Charlie, hi Cadance," said Percy.

"Percy! It's so good to see you!" exclaimed Bill.

Percy hugged each of the four and turned back to Bill.

"I always knew you would be the first of us to get married."

"Uh, Percy...Charlie got married first. Then Ron married Hermione. As a matter of fact, Charlie and Cadance's daughter is four and a half and Ron and Hermione's daughter is two."

Percy looked dumbstruck. "You have kids? Already?! I've really been out of the loop."

"Not to burst your bubble Percy, but you've been dead for a really super long time," said Cadance matter of factly.

"I know, but I thought I might have known this stuff."

At this point the twins had made their way down to that end of the table.

"Fred, surely I'm having a bad dream or I've drunk too much. But I do believe that our dead older brother is standing before us."

"No, I'm here. It's so good to know that you still think the same way about me."

"Come with us and chat, tell us what it's like to be dead so we can make up a good sweet to imitate the feeling," said Fred.

"I do believe that it is time to smash cake into each of your faces," said Cadance to Cati.

"I do believe that you are correct."

After the cutting of the cake, and the ooh-ing and ahh-ing over the cake topper, Cinderella and Prince Charming, the smashing of cake into each other's face, Cati had begun to dance with Mickey Mouse. "TIME TO THROW THE CONFOUNDED FLOWERS!" yelled Cati.

A group of young women gathered around Cati as she turned around and pitched it over her head. She heard a scuffle and when she turned around it was none other than Paige who came up triumphantly with the flowers.

"Hey you guys," said Cati approaching the Charmed Ones. They were currently watching Ron and Hermione's daughter Molly who was a little over two, Harry and Ginny's son James who is also a little over two, Melinda who is four and a half, and Wyatt who is five now. "That's quite a crew you've got there."

"Aunt Cati!" said Melinda and ran over to her and hugged her around the knees.

"Hey sweetie." Cati leaned over and picked her up and plopped her on her hip.

"That's an interesting picture for you Bill," said Charlie. "A look into the future for you...wait...no...don't spawn...that child would be Satan."

"That's not nice," said Bill. "But you're probably right."

When it was well past midnight and everyone had gone. Bill and Cati stayed behind on the party liner for their two week honeymoon.

---------Two weeks later---------

"You have an ear ring...since you have one of those I'm going to cut my hair!" yelled Cati as they entered Cadance's house. "Cadance! Charlie! We're here!"

"We noticed, what are you two fighting abo..."

Charlie's sentence died as he walked around the corner and stared.

"Honestly, you two haven't been married for two weeks and you're already sounding like an old married couple.....CATALIN WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO YOUR HAIR!"

"That's what I said when I came back in the one day and it was gone!" said Bill gesturing to her head.

Cati's hair was chopped off up to the middle of her nose.

"Cati, the last time your hair was that short we were at Auroring camp together," said Cadance.

Cati shuttered, "Don't remind me. Anyway, Bill has an ear ring, so I'll chop off my hair."

1 Year, 7 Months, and 13 Days later...

"Push, Cati!" exclaimed Madame Pomfrey.

"I _am_ pushing!" exclaimed Cati.

Bill reached down and stroked his wife's hair. "You're doing great, sweetie," he said.

"Don't touch me!" exclaimed Cati. "That's what got us here in the first place!"

Just then, the door burst open and Cadance and Charlie came running in. "Oh, Cati!" exclaimed Cadance. "I just heard you were having your baby! We came as soon as we could."

"I was in the middle of teaching about Animagi when my water broke," said Cati, though it was hard to understand her through gritted teeth.

"Okay, Cati, give it one more push," said Madame Pomfrey.

Then, Professor McGonagall came in. "Headmistress, I really must protest. There are too..."

"Oh shut up, Poppy," said Cadance. "You're just nervous because you never had to deliver a baby before."

"Not true," said Poppy. "I delivered one other baby before."

"When I die, I'm going to apologize to my mother for all the pain I must have put her through in childbirth!" exclaimed Cati.

"Oh you weren't that bad. It was Drew that was really bad," said McGonagall.

"How would you know?" asked Charlie.

"I was there!" exclaimed McGonagall. "I was there when you _all_ were born!"

"Holy shit, you're old," said Cadance.

"Watch it," said McGonagall. "I pay your salary."

"I meant old in a youthful way," said Cadance.

"That's it!" exclaimed Poppy. "Cati, you're a mom! It's a beautiful baby girl!"

"Oooh, look how beautiful she is!" said Cadance.

"What's her name going to be?" asked Charlie.

"Vivien," answered Bill.

"Vivien Weasley," said Cadance. "Your mommy and daddy are crazy. But don't worry; your Aunt Cadance is ok."

McGonagall snorted.

"What a way to spend the first day back after Christmas holidays!" said Poppy.

"Knock knock," said a voice from the doorway. They turned around to see Arthur and Molly. Arthur was holding younger Molly, now almost 4 years old. Older Molly (Grandma Molly) was holding James, who was only slightly younger. Melinda, almost 6, stood in between them. Molly served as a babysitter for her three grandchildren during the day, with the help of Dobby the House Elf, who now worked for Harry.

"Can we come in?" asked Arthur.

"Yes, of course," said Cati.

"Come meet your new granddaughter," said Bill.

"Another girl!" exclaimed James wrinkling his nose.

"Yes, and she's beautiful," exclaimed Grandma Molly, putting James down next to Melinda and taking Vivien.

"I think you should name her Rain Cloud," said Melinda.

"Yes!" said little Molly. "Or Rainbow Sunshine!"

"I think you should name her Boozer," said James.

Everyone stared at him and then McGonagall asked, "Where did you learn that word?"

"Uncle Bill!" exclaimed James proudly. "He said that Uncle Fred was turning into a boozer because he's got a crush on the new waitress at Miss Kala's bar!"

"Bill!" reprimanded Mrs. Weasley.

"Now you get to explain to Harry and Ginny why their son knows that word!" exclaimed Cati.

"What they're really going to want to know is how he understands the concept of a bar," said Arthur.

Little Molly, still in Arthur's arms, said, "A bar is where you go to get soused!"

"Yeah!" said Melinda. "And then after you get soused you go to sleep with someone and that's where babies come from!"

"Oh good Lord," said Cadance.

"Who has been feeding the children this information?" asked Bill.

"Well, let's think. Who fed us inappropriate information?" asked Cati.

They all thought for a moment and then Cadance, Charlie, Bill, and Cati said in unison, "Sirius."

About a month later, Jen was sitting in her living room working on finalizing her wedding plans. She and George were going to get married on December 23rd in the Great Hall at Hogwarts.

The front door opened and she heard Fred's voice call out, "Jennifer Dahlin'!"

Jen laughed and called out, "In here!"

Fred entered the room with a flourish. "Ah, my future sister-in-law. What's going on?"

"Oh nothing. Just picking table cloth colors for the Wedding Reception," answered Jen. "It's harder than it looks."

Fred sat down on the couch next to Jen and looked at then papers she held in her hand. "Well, I'm quite fond of that one," said Fred pointing to a neon yellow one with lime green spots.

Jen laughed. "That doesn't go with the color scheme. It needs to be either scarlet or gold," she said pointing to the two she was trying to decide between.

"Ohh, showing that Gryffindor spirit," commented Fred.

"Yeah," said Jen. "George wanted to get together the Gryffindor team from the year you won the school Quidditch Cup with Oliver Wood and challenge the Slytherin team to a rematch at the Wedding Reception."

"Way cool," said Fred.

"Don't get your hopes up," said Jen. "I've put my foot down on it."

"Awww," said Fred. "Well, I like this table cloth." He pointed to the gold one.

"Really?" asked Jen. "I was thinking about the scarlet one. You don't think the gold one is too flashy?"

"No," said Fred.

"Well, I guess I'll have to just ask George when he gets home," said Jen.

"Oh, that's right," said Fred. "George sent me to tell you he'll be home a little late tonight. I was supposed to close the joke shop tonight, but George asked me to switch with him so he doesn't have to close on Wednesday."

"Oh yeah," said Jen. "We have a meeting with Professor McGonagall about the Wedding on Wednesday."

"Do you want me to stay and keep you company?" asked Fred.

"No, that's alright," said Jen. "Thanks though."

"No problem," said Fred. "I..."

His statement was cut short by the doorbell. "Who could that possibly be? Everyone just walks in. Or people from the Ministry contact me by fireplace."

"Well, answer the door and find out," said Fred. She got up to answer the door. From the living room, Fred heard her open the door. A split second later, she came flying back down the hallway, hitting the wall and falling to the floor.

"Jen!" exclaimed Fred in alarm. He got off the couch as a figure in long black robes came down the hallway as well. The figure was wearing his hood up. He stooped over a disoriented Jen as she began to stir. Fred had his wand at the ready. "Expelliarmus!" he exclaimed. The figure was thrown back down the hallway. Fred rushed over and helped Jen to her feet and dragged her back into the living room, as the unidentified figure stumbled back into the hallway. His hood had fallen off to reveal his face. Half of it was disfigured.

"Black robes. Hood," observed Fred. "That looks suspiciously Death Eater-like."

The black-clad being held his hand out in front of him. A blue glowing ball appeared in it. "Energy ball," said Jen. "That's a demon."

He threw it at Jen. Fred pushed her out of the way, taking the energy ball himself. From the floor, Jen watched as Fred slumped to the floor next to her. "No!!" she screamed.

The demon threw another energy ball at Jen. She threw her hand out in front of her, sending the energy ball back at the demon. It his him and he screamed in pain and hit the floor where he promptly disappeared. Jen crawled over to Fred to look for a pulse. She let out a strangled cry and allowed herself to slump next to him as she sobbed uncontrollably.

A/N: Don't flame me. I love you people.


	6. Things Begin to Get Interesting

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as someone else's.

A/N: For the record, in the last chapter, Drew _was _dead. He still is in fact. But he came back for a little visit. Just because people are dead, that doesn't stop them from appearing in my story. It happens.

"He was holding the Energy ball. We both saw it. Yet somehow, I was still unprepared for him to throw it," said Jen.

She was sitting on the couch. George had his arm around her waist. Cadance, Charlie, Mrs. Weasley, Bill, and Cati had arrived shortly after George and Arthur did. Arthur got two Aurors to spend the night camped out at the door. Cati had volunteered, but Arthur turned her down, saying that he couldn't ask her to do that since she wasn't an Auror anymore, and hadn't been for several years. However the real reason was because the last time she stood guard over something, she was a little over-zealous.

Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, and Wendy came shortly after. McGonagall was watching Melinda, Molly, James, and Vivien with the help of Dobby.

"This is all my fault," said Jen pulling some more tissues out of the box; the sixth box that they had gone through this evening.

"No, it's my fault," said George. "If I hadn't sent him here..."

"But, he was about to leave. If I hadn't kept him talking, he would have left sooner," said Jen. "I shouldn't have gotten him talking about the damn tablecloths. Stupid, flashy, gold pieces of shit."

"If he hadn't been here...."

"If he hadn't been here, that demon would have killed you, Jen," said Cati.

"She's right," said Arthur. "You can't blame yourself."

"It wasn't fair," said Charlie. "Losing him like that, I mean."

"So we're just going to sit around here all night?" asked Bill. "Sitting here fighting over who is to blame? This isn't healthy. We should go home and get some sleep."

"Who could sleep?" asked Cadance.

"I'm just thinking about all our children, who are too young to fully comprehend death," said Bill.

"He's right," said George. "Everyone go home."

"But..." objected Harry.

"No buts," said Jen. "They won't bring Fred back."

Yes, no buts nor butts would bring Fred back. I'm sorry; that was an insensitive comment. Fred is dead and here I am making him the butt of a joke. Oh, there I go again...

Well, life goes on. It always does. George and Jen got married. They had flashy gold tablecloths and they played Quidditch at the Wedding. Ginny wore Fred's old uniform and played beater in his place. A few years later, they gave birth to a baby girl named Abigail. When I said 'they', I mean Jen, but George was there, too.

Wyatt and Chris Halliwell came to Hogwarts. And I don't mean Chris from the future. He got sent home. I mean the Chris who was Melinda's age.

Cati taught Melinda to use her powers. She was very mischievous at Hogwarts.

It wasn't until the end of Melinda's 2nd year at Hogwarts that demons got to be a problem. They attacked quickly and quietly, and while they were no match for Cati, there were so many that Cadance finally had to consent to allow Melinda to start demon hunting. Wyatt, a year older than Melinda, and Chris would often help her since they were used to constant demonic threats. They were all in Gryffindor and Chris and Melinda were on the Quidditch Team together.

Things worked out pretty well, until one day, right before finals, when a demon attacked Cadance in her classroom. Cadance was still against vanquishing demons. Luckily, Wyatt was in her class and he was able to take care of it.

However, lives had been in danger when Cadance had failed to act. Cati decided it was time to have a chat with her friend. The same day that the demon had attacked, Cati kicked open the door to Cadance's classroom and slammed it behind her. Cadance was sitting at her desk. It was her prep period. She didn't even look up at Cati's noisy entrance.

"Come to vanquish me, Cati?" asked Cadance.

"I thought about it!" exclaimed Cati.

"Keep your voice down," said Cadance, still looking down at her papers.

"We had an agreement!" exclaimed Cati, not bothering to keep her voice down. "If people were in danger, you would use your powers!"

Cadance did not respond. Cati pulled a knife out of her pocket and plunged it into Cadance's desk. Cadance looked up and then stood up.

"This isn't you, you know," said Cati. No response. "Listen, I was talking to Harry. Arthur just hired a new Head Auror."

"So?" asked Cadance.

"Well, I think as soon as school's out, I'm going to go meet him."

"Why?"

"Well," said Cati, trying to choose her words carefully. "I was thinking about joining the Force again, part-time. Like you and McGonagall did. This new guy will be running the Auror camp. Harry thinks that with a little help from Arthur I'll be able to bypass Auror training."

"That's nice," said Cadance.

"Well, I was hoping you would consider joining up with me," said Cati. Cadance stared blankly at her. "Listen, Cadance. We think something big is coming. How else would you explain all the demonic activity lately."

"Cati, I..." began Cadance.

"Just promise me, you'll think about it," interjected Cati.

"Okay," said Cadance. "I'll think about it."

"Good," said Cati. She turned and stroke out of the classroom. Cadance sunk back into her chair.

-------------------------------------

"Cadance, go with them," said Charlie, throwing some of Cadance's clothes into a bag on the bed.

"No," said Cadance, taking the clothes back out of her bag.

Cati and McGonagall were going to the new Auror Training Camp in New Zealand to meet the new Head Auror. McGonagall was going since it was her duty as Hogwarts Headmistress. Harry and Ginny were going to meet them there.

"Melinda, help your mother pack," said Charlie.

Melinda snapped her fingers and clothes and various other objects flew into Cadance's bag. It zipped itself and then hovered in front of Cadance.

"Go on, mom," she said.

"But I can't leave your father alone. You're going to spend a week at Wyatt and Chris's place," said Cadance.

"It's only for the weekend," said Charlie. "I'll hang out with Bill."

"But..."

"Go!"

So within an hour, Cadance, Cati, and McGonagall had Apparated to New Zealand. Harry and Ginny were already there.

"So, have you seen him yet?" asked Cati.

"No, we were waiting for you," said Ginny.

"I hear this new Head Auror is a real hard-ass," said Harry.

"In a good way or a bad way?" asked Cati.

"A bad way," answered Harry.

"Oh good," said Cati. "I've never met a bad-ass I couldn't beat."

"I don't know, Cati," said Ginny. "If you joined the Force again, he would be your boss."

"Oh, Bob Reynolds never seemed to mind Cadance and me," answered Cati. "He mostly just humored us and let us go."

"Not always," said Cadance. "And that's not exactly a good example. Rob Reynolds turned out to be evil and now he's rotting away in Azkaban."

"Well, let's go get this over with," said McGonagall. "I'm too old for this."

"Oh, come on, Minerva!" exclaimed Cati. "You're only 70! And you don't look a day over 50!"

"Yeah and you two are 39," said McGonagall. "You may look 25, but you don't need to act like it."

"I don't," said Cadance.

"Yeah, and you have to admit our behavior has improved. When we were 25, we were jumping out of windows in between demon vanquishes and Death Eater battles."

"Wizards age weird," said Harry shaking his head.

"Says the boyish-looking, over-thirty man," said Cadance. "Alright, let's go. I don't want to drag this torture out."

"This isn't _that_ bad," said Cati.

"I'm talking about the torture the Head Auror will feel after he meets you," said Cadance.

They dropped their bags off in the rooms they'd be staying in and headed into the main part of the Auror camp. They got directions to where they could find the new Head Auror. A young Auror offered to be their guide. His eyes lingered on Harry's forehead for a moment before leading them to a training field. There was a row of young Aurors-in-training standing along the edge of the field. They were standing at attention with their backs to the group.

"You're in luck," said the young Auror, whom Cadance, Cati, and McGonagall all recognized fro when he was in school. "You came during weaponry training."

"Weaponry training?" questioned Cati.

"New program," answered the Auror. "It's really just a fancy name for sword fighting."

"Sword fighting!" exclaimed Cati. "No fair!"

"Wow, Cati, we really attended Auror Training in the wrong decade," said Cadance.

"Well, I got to go," said the Auror. "I've got to be ready for training in half an hour."

"Good luck with everything, Mark," said Cati as he left. The group walked around the line of Aurors so that they could see what was going on in the field.

There was a man in army fatigues sword fighting with a young girl. The young girl was wearing Auror training robes that were torn at the shoulder. "Isn't that Stacey Wallburn?" asked Cati.

"Yeah," said Cadance squinting at her. "I think so. I was the one who signed her recommendation to be accepted into the Auror Program."

Then the man in the army fatigues did something to shock all five of the newcomers. He used the hilt of his sword to strike the girl across the head. They gave each other confused looks and then Cati boldly strode forward. "HEY!" she exclaimed.

Stacey and the man in fatigues snapped their heads to look at her. The rest of the future-Aurors did not budge.

The man started forward to meet Cati. McGonagall, Cadance, and Harry were behind her. Ginny bypassed all of them and went to Stacey. "Excuse me, but who are you?" asked the man. His voice was loud and deep. He had an American accent.

"I am _your worst nightmare_," hissed Cati.

"Excuse me?" he asked.

Harry noticed that Cati's hand was inching toward her pocket, where she no doubt had her wand. Avoiding a confrontation, Harry stepped forward and said "I am Major Potter."

"I know," said the man. "Trust me, I know all about you. You don't impress me."

They all exchanged looks. "You're not impressed?" asked Cadance. "This man killed the DARK LORD!"

"Yes, I know all about your Dark Lord," said the man. "And I am still not impressed."

"Listen buster," said Cadance stepping forward and poking his chest with her index finger. "Do you have any idea what it was like to live in constant fear?!?! It was horrible! And this guy put a stop to it! BE IMPRESSED!!"

"No."

"Who are you?" asked Cadance incredulously. Meanwhile, Ginny had come up to them and Stacey was back in the ranks.

"I, Madame, am _General_ Pete Mills," said the man.

"General?" asked McGonagall. "Good God, Cadance, Cati. We've been here 10 minutes and you've already yelled at the new Head Auror."

"General Mills?" asked Cati. "Like the cereal brand?"

"And who are _you_?" he asked.

Harry stepped forward. "This is Headmistress Minerva McGonagall. This is my wife Commander Ginny Potter. And these are former Commanders Catalin Weasley and Cadance Weasley."

"Former Commander Weasleys?" questioned General Mills addressing Cadance and Cati. "I've never heard of you."

Cadance and Cati cocked their eyebrows at him. "Maybe you've heard of Catalin Nuperson and Cadance Dumbledore," suggested Harry.

"What does it matter?" Cati asked.

"Ah yes," said Mills. "Dumbledore and Nuperson. Two names I am very familiar with. I've been warned against you two."

"Warned?" questioned Cati.

"Yes, warned," confirmed Mills. "By a Miss Dolores Umbridge."

"Oh God," said Cadance.

"That woman drives me nuts," said Cati.

"We're never going to get rid of her," said Cadance. "She's going to haunt us even in death."

"Stop being dramatic," said Mills.

"Listen, General," said McGonagall. "You may be in charge here, and Cadance and Cati may be bona fide psychopaths, but that still does not give you the right to _strike_ a person."

"What?" asked Mills. "Oh, you're talking about the sword fighting. She's in training. She needs to toughen up."

"But..." began Cadance.

"Listen up, Dumbledore," said Mills. "These are not your students anymore. You can't hold their hands. Minerva McGonagall knows all about that. Don't you, Headmistress?"

"What _are_ you talking about?" asked McGonagall.

"When Miss Umbridge tipped me off about you two, I read through your folders. Very interesting. Dumbledore you've been arrested three times and Nuperson you've been arrested twice. Quite Impressive."

"You're impressed by our arrest record, but Harry vanquished the Dark Lord and you're not impressed?"

"Well, it's on your Auroring record that Professor McGonagall showed up one week into your training threatening bad things on Bob Reynolds if you two were hurt in Auror Training."

"You did?" asked Cadance, turning to McGonagall.

"Oh Minerva! You do care!" exclaimed Cati throwing her arms around McGonagall's neck.

"Catalin Marie Nuperson Weasley, if you don't get off me, I'm going to do all those things I threatened to do to Bob Reynolds to you," said McGonagall. "Now let's go! We're going home."

She turned around and strode away. Cadance and Cati looked at each other then followed. Harry and Ginny stayed behind for a second to grudgingly shake General Mills' hand before following.

"You two will _not_ be joining the Force," said McGonagall to Cadance and Cati.

"I really don't like that man," said Cati.

"Grab some Floo Powder," said McGonagall once they got back to the room. "We're going back to Hogwarts."

"Well, this weekend was cut short," said Cadance.

"Harry, Ginny, you two are to report to Arthur immediately. He needs to have a word with that Big-headed American," said McGonagall.

They nodded. Cadance and Cati and McGonagall grabbed their bags and promptly used their fireplace to transport themselves to Cadance and Charlie's Common Room. They stepped inside to find Charlie and Bill sitting around the coffee table playing cards with 7-year-old Vivien and Jen and George's three-year-old daughter Abby. Four doors led out of the Common Room. One was to Cadance and Charlie's room, one to Melinda's room, one to a spare bedroom, and one to a bathroom.

"Did you guys forget something?" asked Bill.

"No, we left early," said Cadance.

"I win!" cried Abigail putting her cards down.

"You have a 3, a 7, a 6, a Jack, and an Ace," said Charlie. "How do you win?"

"Beats me," said Bill.

"Where's Melinda?" asked Cadance.

"San Francisco," said Charlie. "Piper and Chris came to get her half an hour ago. Why did you cut the weekend short?"

"We fought with the Head Auror," said Cati. "Let's not talk about it."

"Why is Abby here?" asked Cadance.

"Jen and George had to go somewhere," said Charlie.

"Why aren't we allowed to talk about your fight with the Head Auror?" asked Bill.

"We don't like him very much," answered McGonagall. "Listen up, you two young ones. You're not allowed to be Aurors."

Abby responded by throwing some cards up in the air. Cadance picked her up. "Abby, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Playing cards," she responded. "Aunt Cadance?"

"Yes, dear?" answered Cadance.

"Are you really crazy?" asked Abby.

"What?" asked Cadance.

"Uncle Bill and Uncle Charlie said that you were crazy," said Abby.

"Oh they did, did they?" she asked.

"Yes," Abby replied.

"Vivien, why don't you take Abby down to the kitchens and get yourselves some cookies. Then bring her back up here and then go across the hall to your Common Room and you two can play there," she said. Cati and Bill had a Common Room across the hallway.

"Okay," said Vivien. She took Abby's hand and led her out.

"Now, dear," said Charlie. "You can't really believe..."

"Oh, Charlie," said Cadance shaking her head. "I don't believe her."

"Really?" he asked.

"No," said Cadance, she tackled him and pinned him to the floor. He rolled her over and in turn pinned her. He kissed her forehead.

"Now what?" asked Charlie.

Cadance laughed and tried to push him off. "So I'm crazy, huh?" she asked.

"Now listen," said Charlie. "That was taken out of context."

"No, it wasn't," said Bill. "We said.... to each other mind you.... that this visit is very uncharacteristic of you, as of late. And that maybe it would cause you to snap and you would revert back to you old crazy self."

Cadance, still pinned to the ground, looked up into Charlie's face. "Charles Arthur Weasley, is this true?" she asked.

"Well, maybe," he said.

"Well, you big stinkin' pile of cheese whiz, it was _your_ idea that I go in the first place!" she argued.

"Someone being pinned to the floor by their husband should not have the _audacity_ to call him a big stinkin' pile of cheese whiz," said Charlie.

"Give me kiss?" asked Cadance grinning.

"Oh, so now you're in a loving mood?" asked Charlie jokingly.

"Uhh, yes," said Cadance.

"No, I'm not kissing you," he said finally getting off of her.

"Married people are so weird," said Cati, which prompted Bill to grab her and pin her to the ground. Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes.

Suddenly an ear-piercing scream echoed from somewhere outside the room. All five of them jumped to their feet. They stared around the room for a second before bolting out into the hallway. They looked around, trying to decide which way the scream came from.

"You guys go left and Charlie and I will go right," said Cadance. With a nod they all took off.

Charlie and Cadance turned into another corridor and immediately found the source of the commotion. Two pale-looking demons were standing in the middle of the hallway. One had Vivien and the other had Abby.

"Where is Weasley?" spat the one holding a struggling Vivien. He had one hand clapped over her mouth.

"You're going to have to be more specific around here," sighed Cadance.

"You mean there's more than one Weasley?"

Cadance and Charlie began to laugh. "I'm looking for the Sorceress Weasley!" he said.

They started laughing harder.

"There's more than one?" he asked incredulously. "Well, I want the mother of the Sorceress brat we have here!"

Cadance and Charlie laughed harder still. "Okay, well, you're holding the daughter of Sorceress Catalin Weasley and that guy is holding the daughter of Sorceress Jennifer Weasley."

"Damn," said the demon. He turned to his companion and they were whispering for a few seconds and then they turned back to her and the demon continued. "I want the Sorceress Weasley who was once a Dumbledore."

"Well, then, you'd be looking for Jen," said Cadance. "If you'll just give me those children, I'll go get her..."

"Do you think I'm a fool, witch?" he cut in. "I want revenge on the witch who vanquished my brother 19 years ago! I know she married into the Weasley family."

Cadance and Charlie exchanged a look. Jen wasn't even in the Wizarding World 19 years ago. Cadance stepped forward, rolling up her sleeves. "Well now we have a problem," she said. "Because my sister wasn't even around here then. You must be looking for me."

"Oh good," said the demon pushing Vivien to the other demon and getting ready to attack.

"Give me the kids, then you can fight this out with my wife," said Charlie.

The demon responded by an energy ball at them. Charlie grabbed Cadance and dropped to the floor to avoid being hit.

"Aunt Cadance! Uncle Charlie!" cried Vivien, struggling against the demon.

"It's alright, Viv," said Charlie, as they got to their feet.

"Let go of those kids and fight us like the demons that you are," hissed Cadance. "I am in _no mood_ for this."

"I want you to suffer as I have these past 19 years!" he exclaimed.

"Go to hell!" exclaimed Cadance.

"I'd love to," he responded. He pulled his arm back and threw another energy ball at them. This time however, Cadance threw her arm in front of her and used her telekinetic powers for the first time in 12 years. The energy ball changed directions and hit the demon. He was thrown backwards against the wall and didn't move. He disappeared in a burst of flame.

"I love it when they clean up after themselves," said Cadance. She pulled her arm back and a fireball appeared in it, and she turned to the other demon. "Alright, buddy, you're next."

The demon pushed Vivien and Abby off to the side and armed himself with an energy ball. Cadance threw her fireball and he threw his energy ball.

"Charlie get the children," said Cadance as they both dove out of the way. He nodded. Cadance and the demon stared each other down. Charlie grabbed Abby and Vivien by the arms and dove to avoid another energy ball. Cadance took the opportunity to throw a fireball at the demon. Unfortunately, he had good reflexes. He launched and energy ball at her. The fireball and the energy ball collided in the middle and Cadance and the demon were both thrown backwards several feet, just as Cati, Bill, and McGonagall came into the hallway. Cati threw a fireball at the demon and he burst into flame and disappeared. Cati and Bill rushed over to Charlie, Vivien, and Abby who were getting off the floor.

Cati first engulfed Vivien in a big hug then grabbed Abby, who was crying.

"I'm fine, too, thanks," said Charlie.

"Cadance," said McGonagall. Cadance was laying spread eagle where she landed and had not moved. "Cadance! You dead?"

Charlie was kneeling by Cadance's side in world record time. "Cadance?" he asked.

"I'm fine," said Cadance, as Bill, Cati, Vivien, and Abby joined them.

"Are you sure?" asked Charlie. "Can you move?"

"Yeah," said Cadance, lifting her arm as proof and letting it fall back to the ground.

"Whoa, Cadance, did I just witness what I think I did" asked Cati.

"Yeah," said Cadance.

"Now here's the real question," said Cati. She bent down, putting her hands on her knees. "Who are you?"

"Cadance Rose Dumbledore Weasley," answered Cadance.

"Isn't there a DiGeniva in there somewhere?" asked Bill. Cati elbowed him.

"Crazy?" asked Cati.

"Quite possibly," answered Cadance calmly.

"Sorceress?"

"Most definitely," Cadance answered.

"Getting up?" asked Cati.

"No, thanks," answered Cadance. "I think I'll stay here a bit."

Cati turned to the others with a big grin on her face. "She's back!" Meanwhile, Abby went and lay down next to Cadance with her head touching Cadance's shoulder. Cati shrugged and lay down on the other side of her.

McGonagall shook her head then said, "I'm going to my office." She walked down the hallway.

"I'm going to go use the fireplace to call Piper and check on Melinda," said Charlie. "Are you coming, Cadance?"

"Uhhh... no," said Cadance. "Tell Melinda that I love her."

"Okay," said Charlie. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah."

Charlie turned to Bill. "I think I need professional advice on this one. I'm going to talk to Piper and her sisters," he whispered.

"I'll go with you," said Bill. "Vivien keep an eye on them. If they decide to move, try not to let them near anything sharp." They walked off down the hallway.

"So what do you want to do?" asked Cati.

"I don't know," said Cadance.

"Oh," said Cati.

Just then, a very pregnant Jen and (an un-pregnant) George came running in. "A demon's coming!" exclaimed Jen. "It wants revenge." She stopped and stared at them.

"What are you doing?" asked George.

"The demon's gone," said Cadance. "How did you know about it?"

"When we went into the Ministry I got a premonition," said Jen. "But what are you doing?"

"Laying here," said Cadance.

"Why?"

"Just because," said Cadance. "Care to join us?"

"Look at me," said Jen. "If I laid down, I wouldn't be able to get up! I can't wait until this one pops!"

"You've still got four months to go," said Cati.

"I know," said Jen. "Hermione's only got three more. She's due at the end of September."

"So are you going to give me another nephew?" asked Cadance. "I think James is getting overwhelmed by all the girls."

"Maybe," said Jen. "It's going to be a surprise. We won't know until he or she comes out."

"Well, it was a surprise in all other aspects, so you might as well let it's gender be a surprise," said Cadance.

George snorted and Jen's eyes grew wide. Abby sat up and said, "Mommy, was I a surprise?"

"Yes," Cadance answered for her.

"Don't worry, honey, you were a good surprise," said Jen. She rounded on Cadance. "Now what do you have to say for yourself?"

"That..." began Cadance. "I feel like going swimming."

"Swimming?" asked Jen.

"Last one there pays for pizza?" asked Cati.

"You're on," said Cadance. They both sprang up and dashed down the hallway.

"Wait for me! I have to make sure you don't touch anything sharp!" exclaimed Vivien running after them.

"Wait!" exclaimed Jen. "The front doors are that way! What are you doing?"

"Dear, I don't think they're using the front doors," said George as he grabbed Abby's hand to stop her from running after them.

"What?" asked Jen.

"How did Cadance used to get into the lake?" asked George.

"Through McGonagall's office window," answered Jen.

"But now McGonagall is Headmistress and she has a different office," said George.

Realization dawned on Jen. "And Cadance has her office now," said Jen. She shook her head and looked into George's face. "She's back."

Ginny and Harry turned the corner just then. "Who's back?" asked Ginny brightly.

"Cadance," answered George.

"Oh, we know that," said Ginny. "She came home early because we fought with the new Head Auror."

"What?" asked Jen. "No, that's not what I meant. I meant Cadance is _back_."

They looked at her questioningly. Suddenly they heard a scream from somewhere outside the castle.

"WAHOOO!!!!!!"

They ran to the nearest window and looked out. Directly below the window was solid ground. The ground dropped off several feet to the lake. They watched as a head popped up out of the water. Jen opened the window and leaned her head out. "Catalin Marie Nuperson Weasley!" she exclaimed.

Cati looked up at her. "Hi, Jen," she said.

"Whoa, Cati!" screamed a voice from somewhere to Jen's left. Jen looked over. Cadance and Vivien were leaning out a window in the tower attached to the wing. It was directly over the lake.

"Cadance Rose DiGeniva Dumbledore Weasley!" exclaimed Jen.

"Jennifer Briana Felicia Dumbledore Weasley," said Cadance.

Harry pointed to himself and said, "Harry James Potter." They all looked at him. "What? I thought we were playing a game."

"Alright, Viv, you're next," said Cadance.

"Vivien Ashley Weasley!" she exclaimed.

"No, I mean it's your turn to jump out the window," said Cadance.

"Oh," Vivien said. She climbed up on the window sill.

"What are you doing?" asked Jen. "Vivien Weasley, you get your ass off that window sill!"

"Okay," she said. She jumped and plunged into the lake 20 feet below. When she popped back up she said, "And it's Vivien _Ashley_ Weasley, Aunt Jennifer Felicia Briana Dumbledore Weasley!"

"That's Jennifer _Briana Felicia_ Dumbledore Weasley," said Cati. "You got her middle names mixed up."

Jen turned to George, Harry, and Ginny. "I don't think I'm going to ask them to baby-sit again anytime soon."

"Aw, come on," said George. "Abby's fine. If they traumatize their own kids, that's their business."

"Vivien's not traumatized, she's having a blast," said Ginny.

"You're all crazy!" exclaimed Jen storming off down the hallway.

George picked up Abby and said, "Don't mind her; she's pregnant."

Melinda returned a week later. She brought Wyatt and Chris back with her as a surprise. They just walked into breakfast one morning.

"Well this is a surprise," said Cadance. "What are you doing here?"

"Just visiting," said Chris.

"We were hoping that we could go over to Aunt Cati's house and use her archery stuff," said Melinda. "Can we mom?"

"My house?" asked Cati. "Geez, no one's been there in at least five years. I bet it needs dusted."

"Please Aunt Cati?" asked Melinda.

"Oh, Cati, let them go. What's the worst that could happen? Alright, so they shoot flaming arrows into your neighbor's backyard, but other than that..."

"Is that creature still living?" asked Charlie.

"Almira Gulch will _never_ die," said Cadance.

"Now, Cadance," admonished Cati. "While I appreciate the Wizard of Oz reference, her name is Mrs. Bunkerman."

"Yeah, whatever," said Cadance.

"Alright, you three, I'll take you over later today," said Cati. "Go get ready."

"Yea!" they all exclaimed as they started out of the Great Hall.

"And if Almira gives you any trouble, just throw water on her!" called Cadance.

Later that day... After Cati had taken Melinda, Wyatt, Chris, and Vivien to her house, Ginny and Harry came to visit Hogwarts. They brought Molly and James. They all walked into Cadance's classroom where Cadance and Charlie were tidying up.

"Cadance," said Harry. "School's only been out for a week and you're already getting ready for next year?"

"No," said Cadance. "I think I'm going to rearrange the room a bit."

"Well, you've got a crew with you today," said Charlie.

"Mom's got a doctor's appointment," said Molly.

"Oh," said Cadance. "So you decided to come visit your old aunt."

"Aunt Cadance, you're not old," laughed Molly.

"I know," said Cadance. "I was talking about Cati. Unfortunately, she's not here right now."

"We got our Hogwarts letters today," said James.

"Well, who do you think sent them?" asked Cadance.

Suddenly, there was a series of bumps and thuds from the closet in the corner. Everyone's heads snapped towards it. "What was that?" asked Molly.

"It's got to be either a boggart or a boogieman," said Charlie.

"Well, let it out," said Harry.

Cadance shrugged and walked towards the closet. "Wands out," said Cadance. She opened the door and stepped back. She, Charlie, Harry, and Ginny stood in a single file line, waiting for it to come out.

"What's it waiting for?" asked Ginny.

"Well, if it's a boggart, it probably doesn't know what to be," said Charlie.

The words barely left his mouth when a black-robed figure stepped out. "I have returned," he said, throwing back his hood.

"Voldemort," said Cadance.

"Boggart," countered Charlie.

"Right," said Harry. "Not that it really matters, but _who_ is it focusing on?"

"Doesn't matter," said Cadance. "This is everyone's silent fear."

"Isn't it weird how we can't do anything but stare," said Harry slowly.

"Yeah, I can't even bring myself to lift my wand," said Cadance tilting her head a bit.

"Dad?" asked James.

"Don't worry, son," said Harry.

"How do we get rid of it?" asked Cadance.

"Yeah, there is really just no way to make this funny," said Ginny.

Just then, the door opened and Cati and Bill walked in with Melinda, Wyatt, Chris, and Vivien behind her. Cati stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw Boggart Voldie. "Dark Lord!" she exclaimed and sh dove at him, knocking him to the floor. Bill pushed the four kids out the door.

"Cati, no!" exclaimed Cadance stepping forward. "It's a boggart!" She pulled Cati away from it.

"Jesus Christ, why didn't you get rid of it?" asked Cati pulling out her wand. "_Riddikulus_!" A House Elf with a marker appeared out of nowhere. It knocked Lord Voldemort over and uncapped the marker. When Lord Voldemort stood up again, he had a crooked Lightning Bolt drawn on his forehead.

Cadance snorted. "_Riddikulus_!" she exclaimed. Lord Voldemort disappeared.

"What the hell was that about?" asked Cati as Bill finally let Melinda, Chris, Wyatt, and Vivien back in.

"I don't know," said Cadance. "But geez, Cati, I can't believe you just tackled what you thought was the Dark Lord. That was bold."

"Eh, I can take him," said Cati.

-------------------------------------

"No," said McGonagall. "Absolutely not. I put my foot down."

"Minerva, we're not children anymore," said Cadance. "We can make our own decisions."

"Yeah," said Cati. "And we're going to be Aurors."

"I won't let you," said McGonagall stubbornly.

"Come on Minerva," said Cati. "It's only going to be part-time. We'll still teach."

"We're not asking for your permission," said Cadance. "We're asking for your blessing."

McGonagall sighed. "I guess I'll have to get used to the idea that I can't tell you two what to do anymore."

Cadance and Cati put their arms around her shoulders. "Aw Minerva," said Cadance. "If it makes you feel better, you have our permission to tell our kids what to do."

There was a pause and then Professor McGonagall said, "Can I use their middle names?"

-------------------------------------

"You're in luck," said Mr. Weasley. "There's an intelligence-gathering mission that starts in two weeks."

"So soon?" asked Cadance.

"We could use your experience," said Mr. Weasley. "You two are the best Sorceress's we have."

"You have to say that," said Cati. "We married your sons."

"You two will each be in charge of 10 Aurors. You'll be under Major Black," said Mr. Weasley winking.

"Oh dear," said Cadance. "How many will be on this mission?"

"Thirty four," said Mr. Weasley. "It's a small mission."

"Sirius is still in charge of 33 other people," said Cadance. "That's crazy."

"When will the mission be over?" asked Cati. "We need to be back for the start of the school year."

"This particular mission is scheduled to be over on September 1st. You might b e a little late for the Welcoming Feast, but you'll be there in plenty of time for classes."

"Well, I guess that settles it," said Cadance.

"Welcome back to the world of Aurors, Commander Weasleys," said Mr. Weasley.

End 


	7. And the Plot Thickens

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's!!!

**A/N: Okay, I know I haven't updated in a while. But this chapter needed A LOT of work. This is actually my third attempt. We'll see how it turns out, won't we?**

**This chapter is dedicated to the Devine Goddess of Real Life Advertising, aka the Lilac Elf of Lorien.**

Cadance and Cati went on their mission with Sirius. Good times all around! The day they were supposed to come back, Melinda traveled to Harry and Ginny's house to take the school train back to Hogwarts. Why did she leave Hogwarts to take the train back? I don't really know.

Harry and Ginny Apparated to Hogwarts as soon as they had put James and Melinda on the train. They found McGonagall in her office. "The train just left," said Harry.

"Good," she replied. "Was James nervous?"

"No, he was ecstatic!" said Ginny. "I don't remember being so excited for my first year. Molly was excited, too."

"That reminds me," said Harry. "Add two more for guests for dinner tonight."

"Hermione changed her mind?" asked McGonagall.

"Yeah," said Ginny. "She was feeling better this morning."

"She's due any day now," said McGonagall. "She's not going to go into labor during dinner, is she?"

"No," said Ginny. "I'd be more concerned about Jen. She's not due for another month, but she's got premature labor written all over her. Plus, she's getting crazier and crazier just like when she was pregnant with Abby."

"You better just stick the preggers at the end of the table, just in case," said Harry.

"So how many total are coming?" asked McGonagall.

"Well, besides your professors," began Harry, "there's me and Gin'. Bill and Vivien, Ron and Hermione, George and Jen, Sirius and Wendy, Remus and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley."

"So that's 13," said McGonagall. "Let's see. Add that to the Professors who'll be there… Me, Cadance and Cati and Charlie, Malfoy, Sinistra, Sprout, and Vector. How many is that?"

"Twenty-one," said Ginny.

"I'm glad we're going to have the extra people here tonight," said McGonagall.

"Why?" asked Harry.

"I've just got an uneasy feeling," answered McGonagall.

"Maybe you should cancel then," said Harry.

"How would I do that? The students are already on their way," said McGonagall. "No, it's best not to alarm anyone over and old woman's nerves. I especially don't want to scare Jen and Hermione."

Suddenly the door opened and Jen and George stepped inside. "Hello," said Jen brightly.

"Where's Abby today?" asked McGonagall.

"Dobby is babysitting her," said George.

"So are Cadance, Cati, and Sirius back yet?" asked Jen.

"No," said McGonagall. "And don't bring it up around Bill or Charlie or Wendy. They're all worried because they haven't heard from them since they left."

"Really?" asked Jen in surprise.

"Really," confirmed McGonagall.

"That's not like them," said Jen.

"No, it's exactly like Cati and Sirius. It's just unlike Cadance," said Ginny.

"No," disagreed McGonagall. "Unfortunately, it is _exactly_ like Cadance as well. You know, I really liked it when Cadance wasn't her demon-fighting, butt-kicking, window-jumping self that she has recently become… again."

"Me too," said Jen.

"Oh you two just don't like change," said Harry. "Personally, I think it's a nice change of pace."

"That's exactly what I said," said George.

"Enough of this chit-chat," said McGonagall. "I've got to make sure everything is ready for tonight."

"Yeah," said Jen. "Peeves is throwing water balloons around the Great Hall."

A few hours and a change of clothes later, everything was ready. McGonagall went to go get the first-years since Cadance, as Deputy Headmistress, was not there to do it. The sorting went quickly. Harry and Molly were both sorted into Gryffindor, not surprisingly. After the sorting, dinner began.

A little bit into dinner, the doors to the Great Hall burst open as Cati and Cadance strode in. They definitely looked as though they had just come from a mission. Cati was wearing a black tank top, leather pants, and black boots. She had a belt with a bull whip attached on one side and knives on the other. She wore a long coat over top and an Indiana Jones-type hat. Cadance was wearing a black lace-up tube top-type thing over a white blouse with puffy sleeves that got tight around her wrists. She also wore leather pants, black boots, a belt, and hat. They walked by the Gryffindor table on the way to their places at the Head Table. As Cadance passed Vivien, who didn't want to sit at the Head Table but wanted to sit with her older cousins at the Gryffindor Table, Cadance plopped her hat on Vivien's head.

Cadance and Cati stopped for a moment to congratulate Molly and James on being sorted into Gryffindor and to greet their daughters. When they finally made it to the Head Table, they kissed their husbands and took their seats next to them. "Hey everyone!" greeted Cati brightly.

"Where's Sirius?" asked Wendy.

"Oh, he's turning in the mission report at the ministry and then picking some things he had in his office for me and Cati," answered Cadance.

"He should be here soon," added Cati.

"Why didn't you write or something?" asked Charlie.

"Charlie, we can't write when we're on a mission," said Cadance. "Were you worried about us?"

"Of course," said Charlie.

"I'm sorry," said Cadance.

"No, you're not," said Cati.

"Damn you and your emphatic powers, too," said Cadance.

Just then, Sirius walked in. He kissed Wendy then handed Cadance and Cati their teaching robes before he took his seat. Everyone ate dinner as they filled Cadance, Cati, and Sirius in on the things they missed. About halfway through the feast, Cadance stopped talking mid-sentence. A weird look crossed her face.

"What is it, Cadance?" asked Charlie with concern.

Cati turned to face Cadance. "I feel it, too," she said.

They both looked down the table at Jen who had turned to look at them. "Damnit," she spat.

"What?" asked George.

"Minerva!" Cati called down the table.

"What's going on?" repeated George.

"Apparently our sorceresses sense something wrong," said Harry.

Just then the doors to the Great Hall opened and smoke began to fill the Hall. Confused chatter rang out. The smoke cleared quickly and there stood several black-robed people who were wearing masks.

"Oh, Holy Shitskies," said Cati.

"Not good," added Sirius.

"_Noisi vrieh tyord uolg_," said the one in front.

Smoke filled the room once more and through the smoke spells were fired and students began to scream. For several wild minutes, the people at the Head Table fired spells; not knowing where their opponents were or even who they were. Then suddenly, the smoke cleared and the people were gone. Students had crawled under tables and were now coming out.

McGonagall looked at Jen and Hermione. "Are you two okay?" she asked, concerned because they were both pregnant.

"I think so," said Jen and Hermione nodded in agreement.

"What the hell was that?" asked Ron.

"Check the students," said McGonagall. "Heads of all houses, take a quick head count of your houses. Don't forget to add in your new first years."

Cati climbed up on the table. She was just about to ask Minerva how many new first years were in Gryffindor when she noticed something.

James had been sitting next to Molly. Molly now had her attention on Vivien, but James was nowhere to be seen. She quickly scanned the rest of the table. "Melinda!" she screamed. Chris was helping Melinda to her feet. She looked at her aunt. "Where is James?" she asked.

Melinda and Chris both look around. Chris tapped Wyatt on the shoulder, whispered something to him, and he began to look as well. Realization hit Cati like a ton of bricks. "HARRY!" she screamed. His head snapped towards her. "I think those were Death Eaters!"

"What?" asked Cadance.

"James," said Cati. "He's gone."

Chris and Wyatt had run to the doors and looked out, but couldn't see anyone. Ginny practically collapsed, but Harry caught her. Cadance and Cati took off their teaching robes, their mission clothes still underneath.

McGonagall addressed the students. "Attention please!" she called. "Students, return to your dormitories! Stay there until otherwise instructed by me!" She turned back to everyone at the Head Table. "Are you sure there's no one else missing?" She looked to the Heads of the Houses, but then she realized that Malfoy wasn't there.

"Where is Malfoy?" she asked.

"Uh oh," said Cadance. "We are seriously lacking a Potions Professor."

"Hmmm…" said Harry. "Let's think. People dressed in black show up. My son is missing. And Malfoy is gone. Coincidence: I think not!"

"Harry, hush," said McGonagall. "Don't scare the students." The students had begun filing out. They were scared and huddled together. Melinda, Chris, and Wyatt however approached the Head Table.

"Get to Gryffindor Tower," said Cadance turning to them.

"We want to help," said Melinda.

"Where's Vivien?" asked Cati.

"She's with Molly, on her way to Gryffindor Tower," said Chris.

"How are we going to get James back?" asked Harry.

"We don't even know where they took him," said Sirius.

"I'll have every available Auror on this," said Mr. Weasley.

"Don't worry Harry," said Cadance. "The Death Eaters probably only took James as a way of getting to you so they won't kill James until they've got you."

"Oh that's comforting," said Ginny sarcastically.

"Cadance, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" asked Cati as a smile began to play across her face.

"Hmmm…" said Cadance. Her and Cati immediately turned and looked and Chris and Wyatt, with wide grins on their faces.

"Uh oh," said Chris.

"Well, here's the plan," said Cati. "Chris and Wyatt are going to orb us in. Then we're going to get James. Then we're going to orb out."

"That's it?' asked Harry. "That's your plan?"

"Hey! I don't see you coming up with anything Mr. Auror Man," said Cati.

"Okay, so anyway," interrupted Cadance. "We can't all go. There is a whole school full of students to consider."

"Good point," said McGonagall. "Jen and Hermione clearly can't go, because they're pregnant."

After some discussion, it was decided that McGonagall would have to stay behind. George, too, was staying. Molly (who from now on will be referred to as Mrs. Weasley to avoid her being confused with Ron and Hermione's daughter Molly… all other 'Mrs. Weasleys' will be referred to by their first names aka Cadance, Cati, Hermione, Jen, whatever.) was going to get Vivien from the Gryffindor Common Room and Abby from Jen and George's house and take them back to the Ministry, where Arthur would be since, as Minister, he had to inform the Ministry of what happened and he was also going to try to round up the old crowd with Melinda's help. Charlie was also staying to help McGonagall.

So Harry, Ginny, Ron, Cadance, Cati, Bill, Sirius, Wendy, Wyatt and Chris were going to go and find James. "Hurry and sense him," instructed Cadance.

It took a few moments but finally Wyatt said, "It's an old building. It might be a castle. It's very similar to Hogwarts. I think James is in the basement."

"Can you sense an empty room that we can orb into?" asked Cati.

"Yeah," said Wyatt. "I think so."

----------------------------------------------

"Damnit!" exclaimed Cadance after they all orbed in amid a bunch of Death Eaters.

Cati armed herself with a fireball. "Oh come on, Cadance, this'll be fun!" she exclaimed.

"Wyatt, Chris, get out of here!" exclaimed Cadance as they all began to fire spells. "And take Harry with you!"

"What?!" exclaimed Harry, turning his attention to her and almost catching a spell in the chest, but Sirius pushed him to the left.

"Organize the Aurors and come back with backup," said Cadance. Wyatt grabbed Harry's arm and he and Chris orbed out before Harry could protest anymore.

----------------------------------------------

"_I think so_," said Cadance mockingly as her and the rest of her companions sat behind bars, captured by the Death Eaters. The room they were in was divided in half by bars. They were on one side of the bars and the door was on the other side. Cadance continued her rant, "I asked him if the room was empty and he said 'I think so.' I'm going to kick his butt when we get out of here."

"You mean _if_ we get out of here," said Ginny.

"Gin', I don't think you realize what we got here," said Cadance. "We've got a collection of some of the best jail-breakers on earth. First, there's Sirius who broke out of Azkaban. Then you've got me who broke Sirius out of Azkaban a _second time_ with Charlie's help. And then there's Cati who broke me out of Azkaban with Minerva and Sirius. Wendy broke me and McGonagall out of Voldemort lair with the help of a demon and Leo. Not to mention that Harry is at Hogwarts helping to gather the old crowd, some of which were already mentioned as jail-breakers. That's got to count for something. And so I think it's safe to say that they only way we're not going to get out of this is if someone came in _right now_ to kill us."

The words had barely left his mouth when the door to the room opened and a Death Eater stepped in. He threw his hood back and everyone turned to Cadance and screamed, "DAMNIT CADANCE!"

"Lucius Malfoy," said Cadance.

"Nice to see you again, too," he said. "Now where's dear Harry."

"Does he mean Harry the doctor or Harry the vampire?" asked Cadance.

"Maybe he means Harry the St. Mungo's Patient," suggested Cati.

"No, he's dead," said Cadance. She paused then looked at Lucius. "That's not the one you meant was it?"

"I mean Harry the Boy-who-Lived," spat Lucius.

"Oh," said Cadance. "What's he look like?"

"You _know_ what he looks like!" exclaimed Lucius, clearly annoyed. "You know which one I'm talking about! It's _her_ husband!" He pointed at Ginny.

"What's he look like?" Cadance asked Ginny. Ginny shrugged.

Lucius uttered a cry of anger and then stormed out. As soon as he left, they all burst into laughter. "It's almost too easy," said Cati.

Suddenly, Lucius re-entered, this time dragging James. "James!" exclaimed Ginny rushing up to the bars.

"Where is _Potter_?" asked Lucius again. "You have three minutes to come up with an answer I like or I'll kill the boy."

"Huddle!" exclaimed Sirius. They all got really close to discuss quietly.

"He must be really dumb if he can't figure out that Harry's at Hogwarts," said Ginny.

"Geez, Gin', this is a fanfiction. What do you expect?" asked Cadance.

"What?"

"Never mind."

"So what are we going to do?" asked Sirius.

"Just leave it to me," said Cati. "Be ready to run."

"Break!" exclaimed Sirius as he clapped his hands together.

"Okay, Lucy," said Cati. "Let me out and I'll take you to him."

"Is this a trick?" asked Lucius.

"Does this look like the face of a girl who would trick you?" asked Cati.

"Well…"

"Just let me out of here," said Cati.

Lucius took out his wand and flicked it. A piece of the bars swung open. Before Lucius could look it, Cati hit him in the face breaking his nose. He doubled over. Cati grabbed James and screamed "JAIL BREAK!!" She bolted out of the room with everyone right behind her.

"Split up!" exclaimed Cati. "Bill and Cadance, you guys come left with me. The rest of you go right!"

"Why?" asked Ginny.

"We already told you, Gin', this is a fanfiction," said Cati.

"What?" repeated Ginny.

"Just go!" exclaimed Cati. And so they did.

Ginny, James, Sirius, Wendy, and Ron didn't make it far before they ran into trouble. They ran into a large room. It was filled with Death Eaters.

"Oh, what were the odds of this happening?" asked Ginny.

"Fanfiction!" exclaimed Sirius.

"I don't get it!" exclaimed Ginny.

The doors slammed shut behind them and they jumped. "Come forward!" called a voice up on a platform. They were shoved roughly to the front.

"Gasp!" exclaimed Sirius. "It's Bob Reynolds, the former Head Auror who turned out to be a spy for Voldemort and was discovered when he had Cadance arrested right before Voldemort fell!"

"Fanfiction?" asked Ginny.

"Yes," said Wendy.

"Do you know why we're here?" asked Reynolds.

"Well, naturally we assumed that you were trying to bring back the Dark Lord," said Ron.

"It won't work," said Ginny.

Suddenly the doors opened and Cadance, Cati, and Bill wandered in. "Look, a party!" exclaimed Cati as they made their way to the front to stand with their companions. She snapped her fingers and a whole bunch of helium-filled balloons appeared in her hand. She started passing them out to the Death Eaters around her.

Cadance started to look around at the Death Eaters around her. "Macnair! How ya doing? Oh, hey Peterson! How's the nose?"

"Dumbledore, what are you doing?" asked Reynolds.

"Reynolds," said Cadance. "I'm married. My last name is Weasley. And for your information, I'm looking for someone; a rat who has a knack for making returns."

"Speaking of returns," said Reynolds before Ginny interrupted him.

"We already told you, you _can't_ bring back the Dark Lord," said Ginny.

"Oh can't we?" asked Reynolds.

"No, you can't," said Cadance. "Voldemort cannot return unless a _living relative_ gives his blood to bring him back. Voldemort doesn't have a living relative."

"Ah, but what if we were to bring back an ancestor of Voldemort's. Then, we could…"

"Oh God!" exclaimed Cadance. "Give us a damn second!"

"Another huddle?" asked Sirius. Cadance nodded and they all huddled together and talked quietly.

"We have a problem," said Cadance. "If they really _did_ bring back a relative of Voldemort using the same potion and spell that they used to bring back Voldemort last time, then Voldemort now has a living blood relative…"

"No," said Ginny. "I refuse to believe it."

"Don't worry, they still need Harry's blood to make Voldemort come back," said Cati.

"Couldn't they use James's blood?" asked Bill.

"No," said Cadance. "Voldemort's power is alive in Harry and that's why he needs Harry's blood in order to come back. Power like that is either transferred or learned. You're not born with it."

"Are you saying that the reason Harry is so powerful is because Voldemort gave him his powers as a baby?" asked Sirius.

"No," said Cadance. "If Harry was using Voldemort's powers he would be evil. He worked hard and became powerful all on his own."

"I'm getting impatient," said Reynolds.

"Shove it, Reynolds," said Cadance loudly.

"But I have a surprise for you!" exclaimed Reynolds.

"You do?" asked Cadance.

"Yes, it's good," said Reynolds. "Bring them out!"

The doors behind them opened and two Death Eaters roughly pushed Harry and Melinda forward.

"Grand," said Cadance, arming herself with a fireball.

"Watch yourself, Cadance," said Reynolds as Melinda and Harry, both bound and gagged, were pulled up on the platform. "You're outnumbered, and I have hostages."

Cadance reluctantly put out her fireball. "You're a vile and disgusting man, Bob," said Cadance.

"And this is only half of the surprise," said Reynolds. "I'll let Harry here tell you the other half." He pulled off Harry's gag.

"Voldemort's back," said Harry.

**Dun dun dun!!!!!!!!!!!!! **


	8. I'm taking suggestions for the title of ...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's!

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. NOTE: IF YOU CANNOT READ SOMETHING FORWARDS, READ IT BACKWARDS! Try that with anything in a "different language".

"Voldemort's back," said Harry.

The Death Eaters cheered and Harry's companions were stunned into silence.

"_How_?" asked Ginny as she tightened her grip on James's shoulder.

"Quite easily," said a voice. It came from inside the doorway. A familiar figure stepped from the shadows.

"Hi, Voldie," said Cati flatly.

"You see, my dears," said Bob Reynolds. "The only reason you weren't killed on the spot is because our Lord wished to personally kill you." Voldemort gave a sadistic smile and climbed up on the platform. He armed himself with an energy ball.

"WAIT!" shrieked Cadance holding her hands in front of her in the "stop" position.

What?" asked Voldemort putting out the energy ball.

"We are missing someone very important!" exclaimed Cati. "Where the hell is Pettigrew!"

"Why does it matter?" asked Voldemort.

"Well, I thought we could all just pick up where we left off last time," said Cadance.

"You mean where your uncle and cousins were dead on the floor and I was making fun of your boots? Speaking of which, is that the same pair? And that tube-top over the blouse look you've got going on is really a good look for you."

"Well thanks," said Cadance. "I think."

"Anyway, where were we?" asked Voldemort.

"Well, we were about to make a spectacular get-away," said Cadance.

"Huh?" asked Voldemort.

Before he realized what happened, Harry kneed Melinda in the back, causing her to fall off the platform. Sirius caught her and set her on her feet as Harry jumped down behind her. Cati reached her hand into her pocket. She threw something on the floor. They heard the tinkling of glass breaking and then suddenly smoke filled the room. When it cleared, Harry and his companions were gone and two pieces of rope that had bound Harry and Melinda were lying on the floor.

* * *

"Just you wait until I get you back to Hogwarts young lady," said Cadance as they all ran down the hallway.

"Mom! It was Uncle Harry's idea!" exclaimed Melinda. "He said it would be okay to come here."

"How was I supposed to know we'd get kidnapped?" asked Harry.

"Let's just get out of here," said Cadance. "Wyatt! Chris!"

They all stopped and Wyatt and Chris orbed in. "Ready to go then?" asked Wyatt.

"Going so soon?" asked a voice from behind them. They turned around and Voldemort and another man were standing there.

"Yeah," said Cadance. "Sorry we can't stick around."

"Before you go, let me introduce you to my friend here," said Voldemort. "It was his blood they used to bring me back."

"You look somewhat familiar," said Cadance stepping forward voluntarily. Cati grabbed her arm to keep her from moving up too far.

"I should," said the man. "My picture _is_ in Hogwarts."

"Ohh! So _you're_ Uric the Oddball!" exclaimed Cati.

"No."

"Who are you?" asked Cadance.

"I am Salazar Slytherin," said the man bowing low.

"Graaaaaaand," said Cati.

"But…" said Cadance trailing off.

"Alright, we have to go now," said Cati. "See you at… what?... Halloween?"

"Probably," said Voldemort.

"Alright, we'll see you then!" said Cati grabbing onto Chris and everyone else following suit, grabbing on to one of the two white lighters. They orbed away.

"Why did you just let them go?" asked Slytherin.

Voldemort just looked at him and shook his head. "You've got a lot to learn about the way things work in this fanfiction."

* * *

"All of you, get your scrawny asses into bed this instant," said Cadance as they orbed into the Great Hall.

"Hey! Teachers can't talk to students that way," argued Melinda.

"Try not listening to me and _then_ you'll hear what teachers_ really_ can't say to students," said Cadance.

"Geez, Mom," said Melinda as she, Chris, Wyatt, and James all turned to leave the Great Hall. "I think I liked it better before you started having this midlife-crisis."

"Pardon me? A midlife-what!" asked Cadance.

Melinda turned back around. "Sirius says that the reason you began to act more reckless and less stuffy is because you're in the middle of a midlife-crisis. He says that you used to act this way before you had me and now you feel like you're getting older so you're acting like it again."

"First of all, Melinda… _and Sirius_… I am far from midlife considering the average life expectancy of a Sorceress these days is well over 150. And _secondly_ I am acting differently because…" she stopped short of finishing that sentence and finished it instead with "Go to bed."

"Fine, fine," mumbled Melinda as she, Chris, Wyatt, and James all left the Great Hall.

Cadance turned to Sirius. "Midlife-crisis?" she asked him. "Really now, Sirius!"

"Well, would you rather have had me tell her that you were uptight because of extreme paranoia caused by her birth and the death of your uncle? Somehow I thought my midlife-crisis story was a much better story to tell a 13-year-old who was wondering why her mother is suddenly acting like her Aunt Cati rather than her stuffy old Headmistress."

"Excuse me?" asked a voice from the doorway as McGonagall entered the Great Hall.

"Did I mentioned that the Headmistress was lovely and wise?" asked Sirius.

"Oh really?" asked McGonagall.

"And forgiving. Did I mention forgiving?" asked Sirius.

"I hope she's mentally stable, too," said Wendy.

"I assure you, she is," said McGonagall.

"That's good," said Wendy. "Because a mentally unstable person might be pushed over the fine line between mental-instability and insanity when they found out that the Dark Lord had returned."

"You're lucky then," said McGonagall without missing a beat. "After all this Headmistress has seen, she can take anything. You cannot shock me."

"It gets better," said Cadance. "Salazar Slytherin is with him."

"Was he doing the chicken dance?" asked McGonagall. "Because unless he was doing the chicken dance, I am _not_ shocked. You must expect the unexpected around here."

"We need to alert the Ministry," said Cadance

"Who actually witnessed Voldemort's return?" asked McGonagall.

"Just me and Melinda," said Harry.

"Well, leave Melinda out of the _official_ Ministry report," said McGonagall. "The last thing that a 13-year-old needs is being questioned by Ministry Officials and newspaper reporters. Harry, you go to the Ministry. Ginny should go with you. I could really use the rest of you here. Arthur returned to the Ministry. Molly took Vivien and Abby and locked herself in my office. Jen and Hermione are in the Gryffindor Common Room. And everyone else is patrolling the…"

She was cut off by a shriek from somewhere down the hallway. "That sounded like Melinda," said Cati.

"You can't possibly mean _my_ Melinda," said Cadance. "Because she and the other three should be safely on their way to the Gryffindor Common Room by now and well out of earshot." They all stared at her strangely. "I'm trying out this new thing where if I say something isn't true, then it's not," she explained.

Then they heard Charlie's voice scream, "Melinda, look out!"

"I didn't say it was a good theory," said Cadance as she and the others rushed out and down the hallway. When they turned the corner, they skidded to a halt. In front of them was a Dark Lighter. He was pointing his bow at Charlie, who was standing in front of the four kids. The Dark Lighter's back was to the newcomers, but when he heard them arrive he turned to face them.

The Dark Lighter smirked at them, and before they could register what had happened, he shot. The arrow was heading straight at Harry. At the very last second, Cadance pushed him out of the way. They both fell to the floor. Harry pushed himself into a sitting position and noticed that in the split second since they fell, several things had happened.

First, Charlie had sent the kids running in the opposite direction down the hallway. Second, Cati had already launched a fireball at the Dark Lighter and was already arming herself with another. Third, Ginny was kneeling next to him. Fourth, that Charlie was running to them. And last, that Cadance now had an arrow in her side and was struggling to sit up.

Charlie reached her side. He helped her to sit up. "I'm okay," said Cadance, but she flinched and sharply drew in a breath when Charlie touched the arrow.

"Wait," said Wendy sharply, grabbing his arm. "Don't touch the arrow."

The Dark Lighter was shooting rapidly, but Cati deflected all of them. The Dark Lighter fired the last arrow, which Cati dodged. She then narrowed her eyes at the Dark Lighter. In a split second she dove at him, knocking him to the ground.

"Cati! No!" exclaimed Bill.

Cati and the Dark Lighter were rolling around on the ground. Cati pulled a knife out of her robes. She was about to stab him when the Dark Lighter grabbed her wrist.

"Cati!" coughed Cadance, causing Charlie to turn his focus from the fight back to his wife. She tried to stand up as Bill and Sirius dove into the fight. Cadance slumped against Charlie, her energy waning. She could barely keep her eyes open and was soon out cold.

* * *

When Cadance opened her eyes, Charlie's face was swimming in and out of focus in front of hers. "Thank God," he breathed. She felt him squeeze her hand.

"Where's the Dark Lighter?" asked Cadance.

"Cadance, he's gone. You've been out for three days. It's Saturday," said Charlie.

"What?" asked Cadance, trying to sit up, but Charlie gently pushed her back down. "How?"

"We almost lost you," said Charlie. "The poison in the Dark Lighter's arrow was strong. The only thing that could get rid of it was a potion and we were short a Potion's Master…"

"What?" asked Cadance. "Oh, of course Malfoy would have joined the Death Eaters…"

"Not quite," interrupted Charlie. "He's dead. Cati found him when she went to ask him to make the potion. It was too complicated for us to make so we had to call in reinforcements."

"Who?" asked Cadance.

"Well, Severus Snape," said Charlie.

"No way!" exclaimed Cadance. "Cati's uncle? The man who I fought incessantly with for a good solid seven years of my life? He came back to help me?"

"Cati found him," said Charlie. "It took her forever. He didn't want to be found. But Cati convinced him to come back."

"So what else did I miss?" asked Cadance.

"Hermione had her baby," answered Charlie.

"Damn, I missed everything," said Cadance. "When did she have it?"

"Yesterday. A boy," said Charlie. "Joseph."

"What else?" asked Cadance. "Any Death Eater attacks?"

"None," said Charlie. "You're lucky you've been out for these past few days. The Ministry was crazy. They're okay now though."

"Well, that's good," said Cadance. "And what are they doing about castle security?"

"Minerva will probably bring this up with you later," said Charlie.

"Why?" asked Cadance.

"Well, dear," said Charlie. "Perhaps it is time to bring back the Order of the Phoenix."

"But I don't want to be in charge of an entire Order of people," said Cadance.

"Well, that's for you and Minerva to talk about. You are the oldest living relative of Albus Dumbledore. It's up to you to bring it back," said Charlie.

"Oh my god," said Cadance.

"What?" asked Charlie.

"That demon. Do you remember that demon?" asked Cadance hurriedly.

"What demon?" asked Charlie. "There were lots of demons."

"Twelve years ago," said Cadance. "When we first came back… when Umbridge quit… the demon…"

"The demon came back to try to stop you from forming the Order of the Phoenix," said Charlie.

"We should have seen this coming," said Cadance.

"I think... maybe we did. We just ignored it."

* * *

"What are you doing, Cadance?" asked Cati, as she bounced through the Portrait Hole to Cadance and Charlie's Common Room later the next night. Cadance was sprawled out on the couch with a book. On the coffee table was a glass and a bottle. Charlie was sleeping in a chair.

"How come you're so bouncy all the time, you short little weirdo?" asked Cadance.

"I don't know," answered Cati. "A combination of sugar and genetics, I guess." She moved Cadance's feet so she could sit down. "What are you drinking?"

"Don't ask," said Cadance. "Want some?"

"Depends," said Cati, pouring herself a glass. "Is it responsible for _that_?" She jerked a thumb at Charlie, who was now snoring.

"No, he didn't have any," said Cadance smiling. "He's just tired."

"Cheers then," said Cati taking a drink. "What are you reading?"

"My uncle's journal," answered Cadance.

"Isn't that a little creepy? Those are all the personal thoughts of a dead man," said Cati.

"Not just thoughts," said Cadance handing it to her. "Spells and potions. Visions. Some of them aren't even in the Book of Light."

"What made you decide to start reading it?" asked Cati.

"I don't know," said Cadance. "After he died, I just kind of shoved it in a box. But today… Well, I guess I pulled it out because I thought it might give me some answers."

"Well, has it?" asked Cati.

"Not yet," said Cadance.

"Well, what do you want it to tell you? Are you expecting to suddenly hear your uncle's voice telling you what to do?" asked Cati. She paused. "Listen, I don't know if you talked to Minerva yet…"

"I didn't," interrupted Cadance. "But I did talk to Charlie."

"Oh," said Cati as Cadance took the book back from her and began to flip through it again.

"Cadance, your not going to get a sudden epiphany just because you're holding something that belonged to your uncle," said Cati. "A premonition or a clairvoyant vision maybe… Look, it's up to you. You either pick to form the Order or not. Your uncle isn't going to be able to help you with this, simply because _he's not here_."

"I know," said Cadance. "I know."

"Good," said Cati. "Now put the dead man's journal away." She pulled it from Cadance's grasp and tossed it on the floor. It hit with a dull thud. Suddenly the book started to flip pages on its own. Cadance and Cati watched with wide eyes until it stopped. They looked at each other and then dove off the couch and crowded around the book. It stopped flipping its pages.

"Cati!" exclaimed Cadance picking up the book. Her shout woke Charlie and he jumped up.

"Cadance! Cati!" exclaimed Charlie. "What the heck?"

"It's the answer!" exclaimed Cadance tossing the book at Cati and running over to Charlie and jumping into his arms.

"The answer to what?" asked Charlie putting her down and grabbing her face to get her attention.

"It's a spell to bring people back from the dead!" exclaimed Cadance.

"Cadance," said Charlie slowly. "You _can't_."

"Well, actually, Albus couldn't," said Cati who was looking at the book.

"What?" asked Cadance, turning to her.

"Read the next page," said Cati. "The spell didn't work."

"Well, _something_ must work. The Death Eaters managed to bring Salazar Slytherin back to bring back Voldemort. That's _two_ returns. Let me see that book." Cati handed her the book. "Look at the date. June of 1981. It was right after our parents died. I remember… I asked him to do this. He told me it wasn't possible. But it looks like he tried it anyway."

"But it didn't work," said Cati. "If the likes of Albus Dumbledore couldn't make it work, then it can't be done."

"Ah," said Cadance. "But Albus Dumbledore didn't have our help." She raised her eyebrows in suggestion of what was going through her mind.

"Cadance," said Charlie, grabbing her shoulders. "You _can't_ bring someone back to life."

"Charlie," said Cadance. "I'm not Dr. Frankenstein. I'm not creating life. In fact, I'm not even talking about life at all."

"But, the spell…" said Charlie.

"The spell brings back the dead," said Cadance.

"She's got a point," said Cati. "Look at how the spell is worded. The dead come back, but they don't live, and they don't stay."

"Charlie, we need help. You know it. Let's bring back some," said Cadance.

"We'd need to fix the spell," said Cati. "I bet we can do it. The only problem I see is that you can't specify who you want to bring back. You have to take your chances on who answers your call."

"I'll take the chance," said Cadance.

"Are you certain you want to?" asked Charlie.

"It's all a matter of rewording the spell. Making it more powerful. Uncle Albus never really was much of a spell-writer. He also mostly just ignored most of his sorcerer powers. There was so much he could do with a wand that he didn't need to bother with Sorcerer powers. Mostly all he used was his power of premonition…"

"Cadance, you're rambling," said Cati.

"Sorry," said Cadance.

"Well, I'm pretty sure that if we use the beginning of the spell to call for a lost wizard or witch with this spell, it might work," said Cati.

"Didn't we use that spell as part of the spell to vanquish Voldemort?" asked Cadance.

"It calls power," said Cati. "It's pretty multi-purpose."

"So..." said Cadance slowly. "That's it then?"

"Yeah," said Cati. "I'll rewrite the spell."

"And I'll form the Order, I guess," said Cadance.

"And I'll be a monkey's uncle," said Charlie.

Just then, the portrait hole opened and McGonagall entered. "I need to talk to you all," she said.

"I didn't do it," said Cati.

"No one's in trouble," said McGonagall. "The Ministry has decided to relocate the Preschool that they sponsor to Hogsmeade in light of Voldemort's return, starting next school year. We are going to keep and eye on it and protect it."

"I never understood the point of having a magical preschool," said Cadance.

"We never went, and we turned out just fine," said Cati.

"Well, _I_ went and I thought it was fun," said Charlie.

"You went because your mother wanted you out of her hair for four hours every day, you little beast," said Cadance.

"If I'm such a little beast, why did you marry me?" asked Charlie.

"Because I happen to like little beasts," said Cadance.

"Whoa, that could be taken the wrong way," said Cati. "And for the record, I would definitely have considered sending Vivien to preschool if it were down the hill from here."

"I still think it's a stupid idea," said Cadance. "They just call it a preschool so that the kids don't think that they're stuck in Day Care. It certainly worked with Charlie." Charlie rolled his eyes at her.

"It doesn't matter," said McGonagall. "At the end of the school day tomorrow, I will expect you all in the staff room to meet the Preschool teacher. No questions asked."

They all just stared at her. Then Charlie said, "Cadance and Cati are going to try to bring back the dead." It was McGonagall's turn to stare.

* * *

At the end of classes the next day, the entire teaching staff met in the staff room to await the arrival of the Preschool teacher. They waited for about 15 minutes and then Professor McGonagall walked in with another woman.

"Staff," said McGonagall. "I'd like you to meet the preschool teacher, Cassandra Cornelia Fudge."

"Fudge!" exclaimed Cadance and Cati jumping up out of their seats.

"As in Cornelius Fudge?" asked Cadance.

"As in Cornelius Oswald Fudge?" asked Cati.

"As in the former Minister of Magic?" they both asked at the same time.

"Miss Fudge, meet Professors Cadance and Catalin Weasley," introduced McGonagall. "Same last name, by marriage not blood."

"Weasley?" asked Cassandra Cornelia Fudge. "As in Arthur Weasley? As in the _current_ Minister of Magic?" There was something in her voice that let Cadance and Cati know that the question was not asked idly.

"Alright, that's enough of that," said McGonagall. "Cadance and Cati, sit down." They did as they were told. "The preschool will be located in Hogsmeade and will open next year. Also, the Ministry is going to increase protection of the castle by stationing Aurors in Hogsmeade and having them take shifts in watching the hallways at night. Miss Fudge is also certified as an Auror but has chosen to pursue an alternate career path. Are there any questions?" Cati and Cadance immediately raised their hands. "Any _intelligent_ questions?" Their hands went down. "Good. You are all dismissed."

Everyone got up and filed out except Cadance, Cati, Charlie, Cassandra, and McGonagall.

"So, Cassandra Cornelia Fudge, what do you think about Voldemort being back?" asked Cadance.

"I know what you are insinuating Cadance _Dumbledore_ Weasley…. Yes, I know who you are… and I'll have you know that I won't take it," said Cassandra.

"What _do_ you think I am insinuating?" asked Cadance.

"You are referencing my brother and his delayed belief in Voldemort's_ last_ return," said Cassandra. "By the way, I knew your cousins very well. We were in school together. How are they?"

"Dead," answered Cadance, though she was pretty sure that Cassandra already knew that.

"Hmmm, it seems to be a trend in your family," said Cassandra.

"Yours too," answered Cadance.

"Alright, retract your claws, both of you," answered McGonagall. "Cassandra, why don't you head down to Hogsmeade. I'll meet you at the Three Broomsticks after I yell at the Professors Weasley. _All three of them_."

"Hey, I didn't do anything!" argued Charlie, who had been silent the entire time. McGonagall narrowed her eyes at all three of them.

"Goodbye, Cassandra Cornelia Fudge," said Cati.

"Good day" replied Cassandra indifferently as she left the room.

As soon as she was gone, McGonagall rounded on Cadance and Cati (and not so much on Charlie since he really _hadn't_ said anything). "What in heaven's name did you two hope to accomplish…"

"Minerva, what did _you_ hope to accomplish by bringing the sister of Arthur's political opponent in here!" interrupted Cadance

"First of all, at the meeting where we decided to elect Arthur as Minister, Cornelius Fudge _was not _present. In fact he wasn't even alive. Ergo, he is _not_ Arthur's political opponent," said McGonagall. "Second, wouldn't you rather that our younger generation was entrusted in the hands of a certified Auror as well as a competent care-taker?"

"She's a Fudge and therefore she is not considered competent at anything," said Cadance. "And we remember her from when we were in school and Auror Training. She _was_ in Slytherin. And she _hated_ Morgouse, Gwen, and Elaine."

"Cadance you are being ruled by prejudices," said McGonagall. "And I hate to be the one to tell you this, but your cousins were not the saints that you seem to think they were. They were constantly at odds with the Ministry and they made many enemies with their sharp tongues and their quick spells." Cadance was struck dumb. "And if you did not know that her name was Cassandra Cornelia Fudge? What would you think of her?"

"I'd say she has a quick tongue and a capable mind. And I'd have to say she was a capable Auror," said Cati. "And that she'd probably fit right in here."

"But," interrupted Cadance. "There is only room for _two_ quick-tongued, capable-minded, young female Aurors here at Hogwarts and their names are Catalin Marie Nuperson Weasley and Cadance Rose DiGeneva Dumbledore Weasley."

"You're 40," said McGonagall. "You are hardly young."

"Alright, you spring chicken," said Cadance.

"Now, I am going to go down to Hogsmeade. When I get back, I want you two to be on your best behavior through dinner and then go to your rooms and think about your behavior."

* * *

"I can't believe we were banished to our room," said Cadance to Charlie.

"Calm down, dear," said Charlie from his armchair without looking up from his book.

Just then, the Portrait Hole opened and Melinda came running in. "Mom! Dad!" exclaimed Melinda.

"What is it?" asked Cadance hurriedly as Charlie jumped out of her chair.

"There's a new portrait in the hallway," she said.

"Oh is that all?" asked Cadance breathing a sigh of relief.

"It stopped me and asked me my name," said Melinda.

"How friendly," said Cadance.

"He said I looked like someone he used to know," said Melinda. "And then Chris said that the only person I look like is you."

"Really now?" asked Cadance.

"He wants to meet you," said Melinda.

"Melinda," began Cadance.

"Mom, he insists. We told him all about you," said Melinda.

"Yeah, lets go, Cadance," said Charlie. "You were complaining about being kept on house arrest. Who can refuse the request of a Portrait?"

"Alright, lead the way," said Cadance.

Melinda led the way down a couple of corridors. They came to the portrait. Chris was chatting animatedly with the man inside. He was dressed in 10th Century robes.

"Ah, Miss Melinda," he said bowing low.

"Hello, Henry," said Melinda. "I brought my mother."

Henry straightened up and his eyes met Cadance. "By Merlin's beard!" he exclaimed.

"You have no idea," responded Cadance.

"You, Madame, are the spitting image of the woman who I used to guard," said Henry. "Back before I died."

"Odd," said Cadance. "Come along, children. It's time for bed."

"Come back and visit any time," said Henry as Cadance turned and started walking away with Charlie by her side. Melinda said goodbye before she and Chris joined them. They parted at the Gryffindor Common Room.

Once they were back in their Common Room, Charlie said, "Cadance you were a little short with that picture."

"Charlie, something doesn't feel right," she said.

"Hey," he said putting his arms around her. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," said Cadance.

"Come on," said Charlie. "Let's get some sleep."

* * *

Cadance woke suddenly with a start. She sat bolt upright breathing heavily. She looked around the room for a second before she knew where she was.

Suddenly she felt fingers grasp her arm. She jumped, and then she realized it was just Charlie who had been woken up by her.

"Cadance, what's wrong?" he asked pushing himself up and resting on one arm.

"Nothing," said Cadance. "It was just a nightmare. I saw Lord Slytherin's face staring at me through the darkness. And flames."

"It was just a dream," said Charlie. "Lie down. You need sleep." Cadance nodded and curled up next to him, resting her head on his chest as they slowly fell back asleep.

The next morning, when they went down to breakfast, Cati was already there. Bill had already left for work. "You're late this morning," said Cati as she buttered her toast.

"Cadance had a nightmare about Salazar Slytherin and some fire," said Charlie.

"You make me sound crazy," said Cadance taking her seat.

"Well, you are," said Cati.

"Shutup, Cati," said Cadance.

"Are you sure it was a nightmare?" asked Cati.

"No, Cati, it was a _good_ dream," said Cadance sarcastically.

"No, are you sure it wasn't a premonition?" asked Cati.

Cadance's eyes got wide for a second and then she got up and ran out of the Great Hall.

"Thank you, Cati. Thank you for that," said Charlie.

"You're welcome," said Cati shoving the rest of her toast in her mouth. "I was serious though."

"Where was Cadance running off to?" asked McGonagall as she joined them at the Head Table.

"She had a premonition about Salazar Slytherin last night," responded Cati.

"It was a _nightmare_," said Charlie.

"Whatever, it doesn't matter," said Cati. "At least I hope I scared her into forming the Order."

"Or you could have scared her into locking herself in our room," said Charlie.

They finished their breakfasts. Charlie was going to go after Cadance, but Cati and McGonagall talked him out of it. It wasn't until dinner that night that any of them got a chance to talk to Cadance.

"Where did you go this morning?" asked Cati.

"I was talking to Henry," said Cadance.

"Who's Henry?" asked Cati.

"He's a new portrait in the 2nd floor corridor," answered Cadance. "Charlie will fill you in. I have to go."

"Where are you going?" asked Charlie.

"To see the elves," said Cadance standing up and grabbing her cloak off the back of the chair.

"Why?" asked Charlie.

"Henry was from the year 962!" exclaimed Cadance. "This person that he says I look like… he could only tell me her name was Katherine. He didn't know much else about her. But I'm going to the only creatures who have been around Hogwarts longer than Minerva to find out more about her."

"Hey!" snapped Minerva.

"What does that have to do with a premonition about Salazar Slytherin?" asked Cati.

"Nightmare," corrected Charlie.

"Whatever it was," interrupted Cadance. "When was Hogwarts founded?"

"Well, nobody knows the precise date, but it's estimated to be around…" Cati trailed off. Realization dawned on her. She shook her head. "So you're going to trek through the Forbidden Forest to find some elf who's over 1000 years old and ask them some questions about some girl who you vaguely resemble and happened to live at the same time that Hogwarts was founded?"

"That sounds about right," answered Cadance.

"Take Charlie, Bill, and Cati with you," said Minerva.

"Change out of your robes and meet me by the front doors in 5 minutes," said Cadance as she got up and headed for the doors. Cati and Charlie exchanged a look and then abandoned their dinners and followed Cadance. Bill sat where he was and continued eating. McGonagall shot him a look

"What?" asked Bill, his mouth full of food. "I have five minutes! I'm going to finish my dinner!"

Then Cati ran back into the Great Hall, ran up to Bill, pulled him out of his chair and pulled him behind her as she ran out of the Great Hall.

Five minutes later, dressed comfortably in jeans and shirts with light cloaks over top, the four started into the Forbidden Forest. They quietly made their way for the first half-hour but then Cati started to get bored.

"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 100," said Cati. "Guess what it is."

"27," answered Cadance.

"You read my mind," said Cati. "Cheater."

"Cati, there _are_ animals in this forest. Try to be quiet of they _all_ will know we are here," said Bill.

"Are you getting snippy with me?" asked Cati.

"No, I'm just saying…"

"No!" interrupted Cati. "You know, I know _all about_ the animals in this forest. But that doesn't mean that I have to be scared like the people in _The Wizard of Oz_ when they went into the forest."

"Lions and tigers and bears!" exclaimed Cadance. Suddenly, they all felt something whiz by their faces. They froze and looked over and saw an arrow lodged in a tree.

"Oh my," said Charlie.

All four of them whipped out their wands and turned in the direction the arrow was shot from. They froze. There were seven elves aiming arrows at them.

Cati squinted her eyes at the one in front. "Hasalof?" she asked lowering her wand. Cadance did the same.

Hasalof lowered his bow and squinted back at them. "_Swobrou__ yrewol_," said Hasalof to his companions.

"Cati. Cadance. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"Do you know him?" asked Charlie.

"Yes. We've met," said Cati.

"We came because I want to talk to some Elves about something," said Cadance.

"Wizards are not allowed in the Elvish lands," said one of Hasalof's companions.

"Please," said Cadance. "It is very important."

"I will get you an audience before Lord Aurelius," said Hasalof. "But I cannot promise you anything good will come of it. Follow me."

They walked a short distance before they came to a clearing. There were tents set up throughout. There were also outdoor fires. "Somehow this isn't what I envisioned the Elf village to look like," said Cati. "It looks so temporary."

"You were expecting Rivendell?" asked Hasalof.

"Yes," replied all four.

Hasalof lead them to a large, richly decorated tent. Elvish eyes followed them as they walked to it. They entered and saw a familiar-looking elf sitting on a throne with two bodyguards on either side of him. Cadance and Cati had met him once before right before Voldemort fell the last time.

"Lord Aurelius," said Hasalof. "_Uoyh__ tiwka epsoth siwy eht_."

Aurelius nodded and waved his bodyguards out. Hasalof followed them out. "What can I do for you?" he asked slowly and regally.

"Well," said Cadance stepping forward. "It is really on my behalf that we are here."

"Cadance, is it?" he asked.

"That's right," said Cadance.

"Proceed," said Aurelius.

"Well, you elves have been in the forest for a long time. I need to enquire about someone who may have lived at Hogwarts when it was founded," said Cadance.

"I am sorry," said Aurelius. "But our group of Elves has only been her for about 300 years. Before that we were wanderers. Even the oldest here are not old enough to have the information you desire." Cadance looked crestfallen. "However," continued Aurelius. "Our little tribe is a mere faction broken off of a larger group. This large group lived in these very woods for hundreds of years before they became wanderers. There may be someone there who remembers the person you wish to ask about. Their leader himself is almost 2000 years old."

"Where can I find these wandering Elves?" asked Cadance.

"You are extremely lucky," said Aurelius. "We have just received word from them. We expect them Friday night. They will stay the weekend and then they will be on their way. If you wish to meet them, be at the edge of the Forbidden Forest at 6:00 in the evening. Hasalof will meet you there to escort you back here. But you must come alone."

"No way," said Charlie stepping forward. "Not alone."

"Charlie," said Cadance shaking her head at him. "I'll be there," she added to Aurelius.

"Good," said Aurelius. "Now, Hasalof will escort you to the edge of the Forbidden Forest."

"Thank you," said Cadance bowing out. Cati, Charlie, and Bill followed her. Hasalof had heard everything from outside the tent and was ready to depart.

As soon as Charlie was sure they were out of earshot of Aurelius, he turned to Cadance. "I don't want you to go by yourself," he said.

"I won't exactly be by myself," responded Cadance.

Nothing else was said until they were out of the forest. They said goodbye to Hasalof and then walked back to the castle. Cadance and Charlie went into their Common Room and Bill and Charlie continued down the corridor to theirs.

"You're quiet," said Cadance to Charlie as they got ready for bed.

"I don't want you to go by yourself," said Charlie.

"Charlie, I have to go," said Cadance. "I need to find out."

"I don't have a good feeling about it," said Charlie.

"Stop worrying," said Cadance climbing into bed. Charlie climbed in as well.

"I can't," he said. "At least take Fang with you. I'm sure Hagrid can spare him for a few hours."

"Will you stop trying to convince me not to go?" she asked.

"Yes," said Charlie.

"Okay then," said Cadance.

* * *

So on Friday, with Fang at her side, Cadance met Hasalof at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He was on horseback. He also had a second horse with him for Cadance.

Fang ambled along besides them as they made their way to the Elven village. "They have already arrived," said Hasalof. "You are to see Lord Eldar before the feast."

"Is he their leader?" asked Cadance.

"He is," said Hasalof. "I have laid eyes on him only once."

They reached the village quickly on horseback. As soon as they arrived, they went into a large tent that had been set up next to Aurelius's. They entered. There was one elf facing them. He was clearly an advisor of some kind. Next to him stood an elf with his back to the newcomers.

Hasalof bent on one knee. "Lord Eldar. I present Professor Cadance Weasley. She requests permission to speak with you about someone whom she resembles and whom you may remember." He stood up and stepped back behind her.

Slowly, Eldar turned around. He looked Cadance over and then leaned into his companion. He whispered something to him. His companion quickly drew his bow and aimed an arrow at Cadance. Hasalof quickly put a hand on her shoulder and stepped forward.

"Lord Eldar says I am to shoot her," said the elf.

"With all due respect, I cannot allow that to happen," said Hasalof. "She is a guest of Lord Aurelius, as are you."

"If you are her friend, then you shall be shot, too," said Eldar, speaking for the first time.

Cadance conjured up a fireball and held it menacingly out in front of her.

"As you can see, she is an evil witch," said Eldar. He turned to his companion. "Leave us. And take young Hasalof with you. After I speak with her, I will pass judgment."

Hasalof drew Cadance to the side for a second. "I will get Lord Aurelius," he whispered. Cadance nodded and Hasalof departed.

Left alone, Eldar stepped forward. "As I am sure you have already guessed, I _do_ recall the woman you look like. Her name was Katherine. She was, as I am sure you are too, the heir to the Sorcerer Merlin."

"I am," said Cadance.

"Katherine was powerful. Unfortunately, she used her powers for evil," he said.

"But I am _not_ her," said Cadance.

"Your coming was foretold," said Eldar. "You _are_ her. She is your past life. You just so happen to be in the rare position of being related to your past life."

"I'm not evil," responded Cadance. "I helped vanquish a Dark Lord. I'm a part-time Auror. I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts!"

"You are the same," said Eldar. "I expect when you saw Lord Slytherin that night Lord Voldemort returned, you recognized him."

"I felt like I knew him," said Cadance.

"It has already begun," said Eldar. "You did know him in your past life. In fact, you were married to him."

End Note: Okay, I know it's confusing to keep track of who's kids are who. Be looking for the family tree in the next chapter. It'll help.


	9. Pleasant and NotSoPleasant Surprises

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's!

A/N: I don't actually have anything to say right now. So I'll just start the story.

"Lord Salazar Slytherin was your husband," repeated Eldar.

"Pardon me?" asked Cadance.

"You were only married for about 2 years before he killed you," said Eldar. "You and another young man. It was never reported why he killed the two of you, but I discovered the reason. You and the young man were having an affair."

"I couldn't have been that evil, if I cheated on an evil man," said Cadance. "I must not have been happy."

"You were plenty happy. You enjoyed the power," said Eldar. "Lord Slytherin was devoted to you."

Just then, Aurelius came in with Hasalof behind him. "Lord Eldar," he said. "What is this I hear about you wanting to kill my guest?"

"You hear incorrectly, Aurelius" said Eldar. "I have decided to let the Sorceress live. However, I want her to spend the night for observation. I want to determine if she truly has evolved from her past life."

"I will _not_ agree to that," said Cadance.

"I'm afraid you have no choice," said Lord Eldar. "You are in no position to refuse us."

"You son of a bitch," spat Cadance.

"Temper," said Lord Eldar. "Just like Katherine."

"_Eldar_," said Aurelius emphatically. "Cadance, just pass the night with us. At the feast you can sit with me and my family and then stay the night as our guest. Hasalof will ride to Hogwarts and let them know you are safe."

"Ok," said Cadance. "But only because they're serving broccoli as the vegetable at Hogwarts tonight."

After dinner, Aurelius beckoned Cadance into his tent. "Cadance," he began. "I am terribly sorry about all this."

"It's not your fault," said Cadance.

"But now, I must know why he thinks you are an evil witch," said Aurelius.

Cadance paused. "Lord Aurelius," she began. "I do respect you very much. But I am afraid I can't, at this time, tell you what I found out."

"We understand each other well," said Aurelius. "And I'll trust your judgment. Tonight, you will sleep in the tent of my daughters. A bed is already set up for you. When Hasalof returns, he will stand watch outside of it."

"Thank you," said Cadance.

"I apologize again," said Aurelius. "You came here seeking the answers I promised you and instead you got pushed around by a 1,976-year-old tyrannical elf and are forced to spend the night alone in a strange place. I should not have insisted you came alone."

"It's okay," said Cadance. "Really."

"Perhaps it's time for you to retire for the night. The earlier you are up, the less time you have to be away from your family."

"Good night then," said Cadance.

"Come, I'll lead the way," he said. He led her outside and into a tent directly across from his.

"There were two young elves in the tent. They appeared to be about Jen's age. They were reading leisurely.

"_Sreth guad_," said Aurelius.

"_Thgind oog, rehtaf_," said one.

"_Thgind oog_," replied Aurelius. He turned to Cadance. "Your bed is there. I hope you'll be comfortable. If there is anything you need, my daughters will take care of it. Good night." He bowed out.

"Is there anything you need?" asked one of Aurelius's daughters as Cadance climbed into the empty bed.

"No, thank you," said Cadance.

She nodded and then put out the candle on the bedside table. "Good night," she said.

It was sometime in the night that Cadance was awakened by the sound of screaming from within the tent. She sat up and pulled her wand out of her robes in one quick motion. "_Lumos_!" she exclaimed.

When the light filled the tent, Cadance saw one of Aurelius's daughters on the floor, struggling, with a pillow covering her face. Her sister was screaming. Hasalof was just entering but Cadance barely noticed him, because at that moment a knife appeared floating in midair.

One thought occurred to Cadance at once: an invisible intruder. It took Cadance less than a second to spring out of bed and launch herself into the air besides Aurelius's daughter. Her suspicions were confirmed as she hit something she couldn't see. After she hit him she fell to the floor, dragging an invisibility cloak with her. She threw it to the side.

Underneath the invisibility cloak was the elf from Lord Eldar's tent. He had turned to look at her. His eyes grew wide. He pulled the pillow off of the younger elf's face. She had passed out. Suddenly, he lunged at Cadance, but he fell short and did not move. There was an arrow in the back of his neck. Cadance looked over at Hasalof and saw him lowering his bow. Standing next to him was…

"Charlie!" exclaimed Cadance climbing to her feet. They moved towards each other. She practically collapsed in his arms. Hasalof and Aurelius's other daughter were bending over, trying to revive the unconscious elf.

"Is she okay?" asked Cadance.

"She's breathing," said Hasalof picking the elf up off the floor and laying her on the bed as Aurelius entered.

"What happened?" he asked urgently as he rushed to his daughter's bedside.

"This is all my fault," said Cadance. "I'm afraid it was a case of mistaken identity."

"You must leave immediately," said Aurelius. "There is a chance another attempt to kill you will be made. My daughter will be fine. You may not be so lucky if a second attempt to kill you is made."

"This is Eldar's doing," said Cadance.

"I know," said Aurelius. "But we'll never prove it. And technically, as the leader of the elves, he does reserve the right of assassination. He won't attempt anything foolishly after he hears of this terrible mistake. It's the forest I'm worried about. If he could get you two (by the way, Charlie, I won't even ask what you're doing here) alone and off your guard, he may try something else. The faster you leave, the farther you are by the time Eldar pulls himself together. Hasalof will accompany you. Quickly."

Charlie let Cadance go and then steered her out of the tent, following Hasalof. Hasalof gave a low whistle three times. Three horses quickly appeared. They mounted and were about to start riding when Cadance said, "Wait! Where's Fang?"

"He came home," said Charlie. "I went down to Hagrid's hut after I found out that you weren't coming home tonight. Fang scratched on the door shortly after. That's why I came here. I got worried when he came home."

"Aww, Charlie," said Cadance.

"We have to leave now," said Hasalof.

"Leaving already?" asked a voice behind them. They turned around and saw Eldar standing there. They froze. No one spoke for a second.

Then Eldar said, "You remember what I said Cadance. Don't say I didn't warn you when your world turns to hell."

Without a word, they turned back around and started riding. About halfway through the woods, they slowed up a bit, to give the horses a rest. They continued on at a trot.

"So, Cadance," said Charlie. "What the hell is going on?"

"I'm not sure I'm ready to tell you," said Cadance. "I'm not even sure if…"

Hasalof cut her off. "Shhhh," he said.

"What?" asked Cadance as they all stopped their horses.

"Someone's coming," said Hasalof. "From behind."

"Are you sure?" asked Charlie.

"My eyes and ears are better than yours," answered Hasalof. "Whoever it is, they're approaching fast, but is still quite a bit behind us."

"We should get going," said Charlie.

"You two ride on," said Hasalof. "I'll ride backwards and try to head off whoever approaches. There is a chance that with his cover blown, he won't even fight and he'll just ride back with me."

"Thank you," said Charlie. "For everything."

"Move fast," said Hasalof. "And don't stop until you reach the safety of the castle." And with those final words, Hasalof turned his horse around and rode off in the other direction.

Cadance and Charlie rode towards Hogwarts. They rode quickly until they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Then, the horses stopped.

"They won't leave the forest," said Cadance dismounting. Charlie did the same. "We're going to have to run."

"Hagrid's is closer," said Charlie.

"But Hogwarts is safer," said Cadance. "Hagrid might not be able to protect us and he could get hurt if we get him involved."

They ran as fast as they can until they reached the door. Once inside, they collapsed to the floor to catch their breath.

"Charlie," said Cadance. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," said Charlie.

"It is," said Cadance.

"Come on, let's go wake up Minerva. She was worried about you," said Charlie.

They got up and walked to McGonagall's office and were surprised to find her awake. "I couldn't sleep," she explained. "So what happened?"

Cadance recounted the details of her abrupt departure. "And did you find out what you wanted?" asked McGonagall.

"That's a loaded question," responded Cadance. "And it's one deserving of a loaded answer. Unfortunately, I can't give you one yet. Let me do some research on my own first."

"A fair requested," said McGonagall. "And now if you two don't mind, it's late. Perhaps we should all try to get some sleep."

They said goodnight and retired to their Common Room. "Charlie," said Cadance.

"Yes, dear?" responded Charlie.

"Do you believe that a past life can come back to haunt you?" she asked as they entered their bedroom and began changing for bed.

"I don't know," he replied. "Why?"

"I'm not sure anymore."

* * *

The next evening, Cadance burst into the Great Hall at dinner after being in the library all day. She rushed up to the Head Table and took her seat by Charlie. "Where have you been?" he asked.

"Well, it's a long story. One that I'll get to eventually," she said. "Cati, we have to finish that spell from my uncle's book."

"Right-o," said Cati.

"What's going on?" asked McGonagall.

"Cadance and Cati are preparing to raise the dead," responded Bill.

Two seats down from McGonagall, Snape spit pumpkin juice everywhere. "Excuse me?" he asked.

"You heard me," said Bill. "And I want to go on record saying I think it's a horrible idea."

"So was marrying you, but that didn't stop me," answered Cati.

"Ha, ha," replied Bill sarcastically. Cati kissed his nose and went back to her dinner.

* * *

Cadance sat bolt upright in bed after another nightmare. "Again?" asked Charlie who was woken up by Cadance. "That's the second time tonight. I thought you took that dreamless sleep potion."

"I did," said Cadance.

"Cadance, you've been having these weird dreams since you went to see the elves. And that was over a week ago," said Charlie.

"They're getting worse, Charlie," said Cadance.

"You need to try to get some sleep," said Charlie.

"I can't," said Cadance. "Charlie, I don't think _he_ wants me to sleep."

"Voldemort?" asked Charlie.

"No," said Cadance. "Slytherin."

"Maybe you should take the day off tomorrow," said Charlie as they both laid back down. Cadance rested her head on his chest and he stroked her hair. "We'll both skip classes tomorrow and just lie here."

Cadance laughed. "We can't do that," she said. "But the offer is tempting."

There was silence for about a minute and the Charlie asked, "Are you going to get back to sleep?"

Cadance sighed. "I'm going to try."

* * *

"Cadance!" exclaimed Cati as she burst into Cadance's office. Cadance's head was down on her desk, but it popped up as soon as Cati had come in.

"What?" asked Cadance groggily. She _had not_ gotten back to sleep the previous night.

"I finished writing the spell," said Cati.

"Excellent," said Cadance.

"Cadance, it's been three weeks since Voldemort returned. Have you had a good night's sleep since?" asked Cati.

"I don't remember," said Cadance.

"Nice," said Cati. "When do you want to say the spell?"

"Now?" asked Cadance.

"Sorry, but we need to wait for the next full moon," said Cati.

"But there was a full moon two nights ago," said Cadance.

"I know. We'll have to wait a month," said Cati. "And we'll need some more sorceresses."

"If you knew when we could say the spell, why did you ask me when I wanted to say it?" asked Cadance.

"Because I like to torture you," said Cati. "You should get some sleep."

"I know," answered Cadance. "I was just looking for my family tree. I know it's here somewhere."

"What do you need that for?" asked Cati.

"I just want to look at something," she responded.

It was then that Charlie walked in. "What's up?" he asked.

"Cati and I are ready to raise the dead," said Cadance.

"Can you bring back Ray Charles?" asked Charlie.

"Probably not," said Cati.

"Then I don't care."

* * *

That night, Cadance woke up around 2:00 after another nightmare.

"Cadance, you need to see someone about this," said Charlie as they settled back down.

"I'm hoping that the spell will help," said Cadance.

"I don't know," said Cadance.

"I'm worried about you," said Charlie.

"Charlie," said Cadance. "I have to tell you something. I have to tell you what that elf told me."

Charlie kissed the top of her head. "What's wrong?" asked Charlie.

"I found out about Katherine… the woman that Henry said that I looked like," said Cadance. "I _am_ her."

"What do you mean?" asked Charlie.

"Katherine is my past life," said Cadance. "And she happens to be one of my ancestors."

"What's wrong with that?" asked Charlie.

"She was evil," said Cadance. "And she was married to Salazar Slytherin until he killed her." Charlie didn't know how to respond. "There's more. I have to find my family tree because I have to find out if Katherine was the only heir of Merlin back then, because if she was, that means that she must have carried on the line. She was married to Salazar Slytherin. You do the math."

"Cadance…" began Charlie.

"I know. I'm sorry," said Cadance.

"What for?" asked Charlie. "You are a strong, beautiful, wonderful woman, Cadance Weasley. And I am very glad I married you. No matter who you're related to."

* * *

Well, the month passed, and Cadance and Cati got things organized and ready to say the spell. Jen finally popped out the baby. She had a boy and they named him Fred. Finally, the night of the full moon arrived.

"Are you sure you're ready?" asked Cadance.

"I'm doing this for you," answered Cati.

"And I appreciate that," said Cadance.

They were in the middle of the Great Hall. McGonagall, Jen, and Melinda were standing in a circle with them. Charlie, Arthur, Bill, Vivien, George, Abby and baby Fred (in George's arms) were all standing back, watching. Abby was holding her grandpa's hand and kept crossing and uncrossing her eyes in an attempt to see the tip of her nose… don't ask.

The five Sorceresses grabbed hands and began to recite the spell:

"_Hear now the words of the witches.  
__The secrets we hid in the night.  
__The greatest of god's are invoked here.  
__The great work of magic is sought.  
__In this night and in this hour  
__We call upon an ancient power  
__Magic forces black and white  
__Reaching out through space and light  
__Be they far or be they near  
__Bring us those who can help our plight  
__From endless sleep we call them here"_

All of a sudden, a wind began to blow. The Sorceresses dropped hands and looked around them. Little Fred and Abby both began to cry and Jen ran over to take Fred off of George. The wind picked up momentum. Cadance put her hand on Melinda's back to steady her and Vivien broke away from Arthur and attached herself to Bill's leg.

"Cadance! Cati" exclaimed Charlie. "What the hell have you unleashed?"

Then, just as suddenly as it started, the wind stopped. Cati looked around. "Are we over the rainbow?" she asked.

"We can't be," said Cadance. "I don't see any tacky shoes… Well, except Bill's"

"Up yours, Dorothy," responded Bill.

"_Children_," said a voice from off to the side. They all looked around confused for a second. Then their eyes found where the voice had come from. A large mirror had suddenly appeared in the corner. There was an inscription at the top that read "_Erised strah ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi_". There was a man and a woman in the mirror. The man was tall with dark hair. The woman looked remarkably like Jen.

"_Tih syloh_," said Cadance. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Abby. Scott," said McGonagall, a little shocked. And by "a little" I mean, a lot.

"What?" asked little Abby.

"Not you," said McGonagall. "Them." She nodded to the man and the woman who were now stepping out of the mirror.

"Mom? Dad?" asked Jen.

"Surprised?" asked Cadance and Jen's mother, who will from here on out be referred to as Abigail instead of Abby to avoid confusion with Jen's daughter.

"Pleasantly," said Jen walking over to them, and hugging them.

"Cati, why didn't the spell work?" asked Cadance.

"Well, it _did_ work. _They're_ here," said Cati.

"Don't you have a hug for your father, peanut?" asked Scott.

"I did once," said Cadance. "But neither of you came home." Cadance turned on her heel and walked out.

"Can someone please explain to me why my oldest daughter has parental issues?" asked Scott.

"Well, geez, maybe because you died," said new voice. They all turned back to the mirror as another man and woman stepped out.

"Mommy!" exclaimed Cati running over and throwing her arms around the woman. She let go and threw her arms around the man. "Daddy!" She linked arms with both of them as they walked back to the center of the Great Hall.

"_She_ doesn't have parental issues and you two are dead," pointed out Abigail.

"Contrary to popular belief, Cadance and I are _not_ the same person," said Cati.

"I am _so_ confused," said 7-year-old Vivien.

"And who is this?" asked Faith, Cati's mother.

"Vivien," answered Vivien.

"She belongs to me and Bill," said Cati.

"You…" said David, Cati's father. "And Bill?"

Faith, David, Scott, and Abigail all started to look around to see who else was hanging out in the room.

"Here, let me help," said Cati as she began to point at people as she talked about them. "You remember Minerva; she's Headmistress now. That's Jen; you all know her. She grew up. There's Charlie; he hasn't changed much since you died, except he married Cadance… and grew about two feet. That's George. You know him too. He married Jen. He's holding their newest addition, Baby Fred. And hanging off of his leg is their oldest, Abby. And that is Melinda. She belongs to Cadance and Charlie.

"Alright now," said Scott. "I think we may be missing the bigger picture here. Why did you summon us?"

"I believe I can answer that question," answered a new voice as another person stepped out of the mirror. This one was old. He leaned against a walking stick and wore a blue cloak with the hood up.

"Alright, now, who is this bozo!" exclaimed Melinda.

"Oh, she is definitely Cadance's," said Abigail.

Suddenly, the door opened and Ron and Harry entered dragging Cadance. She was struggling. They were each on one side of her and had her lifted off of the ground. Ginny and Hermione followed them in. Hermione had baby Joseph bouncing on her hip.

"No! No! No!" exclaimed Cadance. "I don't want to!"

"We brought you back something," said Ginny indicating to Cadance.

"We came to see how the spell went and we ran into her as she was heading towards Hogsmeade. She told us who popped out of the mirror. We dragged her back," explained Hermione.

"Cadance, you only said two people came out of the mirror," said Harry.

"Faith? David?" questioned Cadance squinting at them.

"Guys, these are my parents, Faith and David," explained Cati to Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. "And those are Cadance's parents, Abigail and Scott."

"Put me down!" exclaimed Cadance at Ron and Harry. They gently put her down.

"Cadance, I think we need to talk," said Scott.

"Alright, what do you want to talk about?" asked the man in the cloak who had been temporarily forgotten. He walked over from the mirror to join them in the center of the Great Hall. "The reason why she has parental issues? Or how about why in God's name you left that night after she asked you not to? Why don't I fix this for you? Scott, Abigail, your daughter has issues because you left her, she got split up from her sister, and she feels like her life has been ruled by you two, or rather the lack thereof. She's angry at you for dying, even though she _knows_ there was nothing she could have done to stop it. And Cadance, your parents died trying to fight a Dark Lord. Give them a break."

Everyone stared at him. Then Melinda spoke up. "WHO ARE YOU?" she asked loudly.

"I, my dear, am the Sorcerer Merlin," he said. They all stared at him blankly as he continued. "Before I was so rudely interrupted by the noisy arrival of my heir over there, I was going to explain why we are all here. Miss Catalin's spell summoned up your desires. It called power. And it brought back the dead. Put all that together and you've got a spell that summons the Mirror of Erised and turns it into a temporary portal that the dead come out of. So Cadance, no matter how angry you pretend to be, you must have wanted your parents to come or else they couldn't have made it through the portal because we all know that Jen didn't know them enough to wish for anything but closure, and that's not enough to bring them out of the mirror. And the portal is not closed yet, so give it some time."

"He really is wise beyond his years," said Jen.

"And that's saying something," added Merlin.

"So let's think," said McGonagall. "Cadance desired to see her parents. Jen wants closure. Cati wanted her parents. Melinda, what do you want?"

"Answers. Because I am really just confused," said Melinda. "You?"

"Pretty much the same," said McGonagall.

"You've got it all wrong," broke in Merlin. "Yes, the Nupersons and the Dumbledores are here because Cadance and Cati desired to see them. But the reason you cast the spell is for help. And that's why I'm here."

"And us," came a female voice from the mirror. "Well spoken, Merlin."

"May I present Lord Gryffindor, Lady Hufflepuff, and Lady Ravenclaw," said Merlin as the three stepped out of the mirror.

They caught sight of Cadance. "By Merlin's beard…" said Gryffindor staring at her. "She…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know," said Cadance. "I look like the wife of Slytherin."

"This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder," said Melinda. "This sucks."

"Melinda, don't use that kind of language. It's not becoming." And with that, a familiar man stepped out of the mirror.

"Uncle Albus," exclaimed Cadance. She and Jen ran over to him and engulfed him in a big hug.

"You have a hug for him, but not your own father?" questioned Scott.

"Alright, listen _Scott_," said Cadance thickly. "Let me be forward with you. This man right here… he raised me. I grew up the way I did because of HIM. Not you, and certainly not her." She jabbed her finger at her mother. "You cared more about _the greater good_ than your _own family_. We were _split up_ after you died. Sometimes there are things that are more important than the greater good. I passed up being an UNSPEAKABLE to marry Charlie. And then we both gave up our familiar lives to live _without_ magic for _three years_ so our daughter would be safe. _Family_ is more important than the _greater good_. Uncle Albus understood that. We needed him, but he died to save _me_. He knew that without him, we could have blown the spell and gotten Harry killed and Lord Voldemort could be ruling us right now, but he threw all that away because he decided that _family_ was more important than the greater good!"

"When you put it that way…" began Harry, but Ginny elbowed him.

"Cadance, we died…" began Abigail.

"For the greater good," finished Cadance.

"Well now," interrupted Merlin. "That was pleasant!"

"I think I must have been adopted," said Melinda shaking her head.

"Cadance, one day you will understand that _sometimes_ you have to put the greater good first in order to help your family," said Abigail.

"No," said Cadance. "You put _family first_ and if you happen to help the greater good along the way, good for you. And anyway, you're of no help to anyone, including the greater good, _dead_."

There was a short pause and then Vivien broke the silence. "You got served!"

"Oh Cati, she is clearly one of yours," said Dumbledore.

"My one and only," said Cati.

"Mom?" asked Melinda.

"No, Melinda, you weren't adopted," said Cadance.

"Are you all quite finished?" asked Merlin leaning heavily on his walking stick.

"No, I'm not," said Cadance.

"Too bad, so sad," said Merlin. They all stared at him strangely. "What? You pick up lots of phrases like that if you listen. Anyway, I think you've said your fill for today. Now I think we should get back to the issue at hand."

"And that would be?" asked Harry.

"Your Lord Voldemort," said Merlin.

"Oh yeah. Him," said Harry.

"Can we have a seat to talk about this?" asked Merlin, gesturing to the Head Table.

"I've got a better idea. Tomorrow night, be in the staff room by 8:00," said Cadance. "Is the portal done spitting out dead people?"

"I believe so," said Merlin. "Why are we going to the staff room?"

"Just trust me. Until then, try to stay out of the students' ways. Let's try to keep your return a secret," said Cadance. "We need to keep it out of the papers. And Melinda, don't tell any of your classmates. And that includes Wyatt and Chris."

Just then, Sirius walked in. "Well, Remus is curled up in the Shrieking Shack, finally asleep. He accidentally ate one of Hagrid's chickens and…" He stopped as he looked around the room and noticed the new faces. "Whoa. What the HELL did I miss?"

* * *

"Step right this way" said Cadance as she led Merlin, Dumbledore, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, her parents, and Cati's parents into the staff room the next night. There wasn't anyone in there. Cadance waved her hand and the doors to the wardrobe swung open, revealing a secret room.

Dumbledore smiled at Cadance. "I'm very proud of you," he said. He took the first steps through the door into the secret meeting room of the Order of the Phoenix. Everyone followed him.

Sitting inside already was a whole score of people: Charlie, Cati, Bill, Jen, George, Ron, Hermione, Harry, Ginny, Arthur, Molly, Minerva, Arabella, Mad-Eye Moody, Kala, Sirius, Wendy, Remus, Mundungus Fletcher, Snape, and Hagrid were all already there.

The only difference in the room since the last time it had been used was that the long table was replaced but a large circular table with a Phoenix carved in the middle. There were empty chairs for the newcomers.

"May I present to you," said Cadance, "the NEW Order of the Phoenix."

Everyone took their seats and then sat in silence for a few seconds, looking around.

"Well?" asked Ron.

They all looked at Cadance. "Oh, right," said Cadance. "I'm in charge. What do we do now?"

"Don't ask us. You're the head!" exclaimed Jen.

"Hey! Hey!" argued Cadance. "Look at this table! Do you see a head to this table? We have a _round_ table because we are all equals!"

"Nice try," said Dumbledore.

"And the round table was a nice touch," said Merlin.

"But you have to make some decisions," said Dumbledore.

"Well, then, for my first decision, I want everyone to stand up and say your name and something about yourselves," said Cadance grinning evilly.

"Are you serious?" asked Sirius.

"I am indeed," said Cadance. "And we'll start with you."

Sirius rolled his eyes as he stood up. "My name is Sirius Black and…"

"Full name!" interrupted Cadance.

"Sirius _Oscar_ Black," corrected Sirius slightly annoyed. "And…"

"Whoa! Your middle name is Oscar!" interrupted Kala laughing.

"Yes," said Sirius almost defensively.

"Your initials are SOB!" exclaimed Kala howling. "You're one crazy SOB!"

"My name is Sirius Oscar Black and I'm a crazy SOB." Sirius sat back down.

"Okay, Wendy. You're next. And we'll just continue around the table," said Cadance.

"Hi. My name is Wendy and I…"

"Hey!" exclaimed Sirius. "You didn't make _her_ say her full name!"

"I like her more," said Cadance. "And I really just wanted to hear you say your middle name. Continue Wendy."

Wendy continued. "My name is Wendy and I am _not_ married to a crazy SOB."

"Oh, will you stop that!" argued Sirius.

Remus stood up next. "I'm Remus Lupin and I'm a werewolf."

"Hello, Remus!" said about half the room in perfect unison.

"Very funny," said Remus as he sat down.

Kala was sitting next to Remus. "My name is Kala. I own a demon bar and Suburbans are hardcore." She sat back down.

Mad-Eye stood up next. "I'm Alastor Moody and I believe in CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" He sat back down.

Next came McGonagall. "My name is Minerva McGonagall and I think this is crazy."

Snape, who was sitting across the table, jumped up and said, "My name is Severus Snape and I agree!"

"Wait your turn," said Cadance. "Merlin, you're up."

Merlin stood up. "My name is Merlin and that says it all." He sat back down.

Next to him sat Abigail and Scott. They stood up. "My name is Abigail and this is my husband Scott and we've got two daughters."

"Thank you, Mama Obvious," said Cadance.

They sat down and Faith and David stood up. "My name is David and this is my wife Faith and we are closet musical fans."

"I knew it!" exclaimed Cati.

Next came the Hogwarts founders and they stood up together. Gryffindor spoke for them. "My name is Godric and this is Rowena and Helga and we founded this school. We also found out last night that we really like Harrison Ford films, thanks to young Jennifer. Thanks, Jen!"

"No problem!" said Jen brightly.

"That's it, the Hogwarts founders aren't staying with Jen again tonight," said McGonagall.

Dumbledore stood next. "My name is Albus Dumbledore and I like lemon drops and chamber music."

Cadance was next to him. "My name is Cadance and I can't spell very well. And also, I like lemon drops but not as much as him." She sat down and Charlie stood.

"My name is Charlie Weasley and sometimes I wonder how genetics work." He sat back down.

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Cadance.

"I'll explain later," said Merlin.

"I'm next!" exclaimed Cati as she hopped up. "I'm Cati and I LOVE Disney World. Mickey Mouse is my hero!" She sat back down in her chair with a bounce.

Bill stood up next. "My name is Bill Weasley and sometimes I wonder why I asked her to marry me." He jerked his thumb over at Cati. She narrowed her eyes at him. "But then I remember what a wonderful human being you are and I realize what a lucky man I am to have you."

"You are well-trained, my fine husband," said Cati. Bill sat down and kissed Cati.

Next Arabella stood. "My name is Arabella Figg, and sometimes I lay awake at night worrying about these four." She indicated to Cadance, Charlie, Cati, and Bill. She sat back down. Snape stood up.

"My name is still Severus Snape and I _still_ agree with Minerva!" He sat back down.

Jen was next. "My name is Jen and last night I corrupted the minds of the founding fathers… and mothers… of Hogwarts by allowing them to watch two _Star Wars_ movies, an _Indiana Jones_, and _Legally Blonde_."

George stood up and said, "My name is George and I had _nothing_ to do with that." They both sat down.

Arthur and Molly stood up next and said "My name is Arthur Weasley and this is my wife Molly. I am the Minister of Magic. That's kind of cool."

"And I went through childbirth six times and I still love my children," said Molly. Every woman in the room who had gone through the pains of childbirth at least once clapped as they sat back down.

Mundungus Fletcher stood up next. "My name is Mundungus Fletcher and I once went to a Brittney Spears concert." Everyone stared at him blankly as he sat down.

Hagrid stood up next. "My name is Hagrid an' I like ter take care of dragons. An' somebody ruddy ate one o' my chickens las' night and I bloody well want ter know who it is!"

"Sorry," said Remus.

Hermione went next. "My name is Hermione and I've read _Hogwarts_, _A History_ over a hundred times."

She sat down and Ron stood up. "I'm Ron and I've _never_ read it!" He sat back down.

Ginny stood up next. "My name is Ginny and sometimes I like to watch reality TV shows."

"Oooooooh," said Cadance. "You know they make you dumber, don't you?"

"I know! I can't help it! But I love _Big Brother_!" said Ginny.

"There's this book you should read called _1984_ and then NEVER say that again," said Remus as Ginny sat back down.

Harry was the last to stand up. "My name is Harry Potter. I vanquished the Dark Lord twice. I'm ready to do it again." He sat back down. They all looked around at each other very seriously for a few seconds then Cadance broke the silence.

"Well!" she exclaimed brightly. "That was fun! Well, how about if I promise that next week I'll actually have something for us to do. Maybe I'll even have a cool plan or something. But perhaps now we should think of less temporary places for you dead people to stay."

"The Founders can have my two spare rooms again!" exclaimed Jen.

"No!" said McGonagall sharply. "Besides, the Founders need to be here… mainly because they're familiar with this school. And I don't want you corrupting them. You take Faith, David, Scott and Abigail. They can spend some time with their grandchildren. The Founders can have our spare Common Room. It has three bedrooms off of it. Cati and Bill, you move into Cadance and Charlie's spare room off their Common Room. And Merlin and Albus can stay in your two rooms."

"Way to take charge, Minerva!" said Cadance. "Now before we adjourn, how about if someone tells a little story?"

"Oh, I've got one!" exclaimed Cati.

"It's all you," said Cadance.

Cati took a deep breath and then began to say, with a definite beat and melody (yet it was not quite singing) "Way way back many centuries ago…."

Cadance cut her off. "Whoa, hold it, Andrew Lloyd Webber. I meant a story that you're in. Like, an anecdote."

"Oh, I've got one," said Rowena Ravenclaw. "Way way back many centuries ago…"

"Hey!" exclaimed Cadance. "I said anecdotes!"

"…This is," said Rowena. "Way way back many centuries ago, not long after Hogwarts began…"

"Yeah, that's original," said Cati.

"As I was saying," continued Rowena, "Not long after we stared Hogwarts, Godric, Helga, Salazar, and I were meeting in Godric's office when we heard this abominable noise. It caused the whole office to shake! We ran to the window and looked out. We saw… right about where the Quidditch Pitch is now… we hadn't put it in yet… we saw a large greenish-looking lump. Now, it didn't take us long to realize it was a dragon, even though none of us had ever seen one in the wild before. At the time, dragons had begun leaving Western Europe and seeking the seclusion of dark woods and caves in Eastern Europe. Anyway, the dragon was sleeping and the noise was its snoring. Every few seconds it would emit the awful snore and the particularly powerful ones would shake the floor. Well, we decided that we would have to go out and try to get it to leave for the safety of our students, who were all new to this kind of learning environment. So we approached it cautiously but it didn't wake up. And we discovered it wasn't very large as far as dragons go. Maybe 8 feet long. And it looked kind of cute. He was curled up almost like a kitten with his tail curled around him. Anyway, Godric thought that maybe he could talk to the dragon and get him to leave because he sort of had a way with talking to animals and at any rate we had Salazar, who could speak to snakes and we thought there was a chance that maybe dragons understood that. Well, we had to wake it up so we could talk to it. We tried screaming loudly in its ear but it didn't wake up. Then Godric got this bright idea to tickle it. So he conjured up a big feather and tickled his nose. All of a sudden, the dragon let out this giant sneeze. Flames shot from its nose as it sneezed. Then it took off and flew away. But poor Godric got his eyebrows singed off. And he was lucky. If he wouldn't have dove out of the way, he would have been nothing more than a pile of ashes."

"I think there was a deeper message in there somewhere," said Cati.

"One more thing before you all leave," said Cadance. "We've managed to keep the return of our dead friends out of the papers. But it has to stay that way for a while. Stay away from the students. You can eat meals in here. Avoid the hallways between classes. And if you do happen to run into any students, don't tell them who you are."

"Well Faith, David, Scott, and Abigail won't have a problem," said Dumbledore. "And I don't think any of the students are old enough to be able to recognize me. Merlin's pretty safe, too, because frankly there aren't any accurate pictures of him anyway. But any student who's read _Hogwarts, A History_ may be able to recognize Godric, Rowena, and Helga."

"Just be extra careful."

* * *

"Cadance, may we have a word with you?" asked Rowena the next day.

"Of course," said Cadance, who had just finished her class with the 4th years. Godric, Helga, and Rowena had waited until they were sure all of the 4th years would be gone before coming.

"We spoke with Merlin and we know all about your unusual dilemma," said Helga.

"I must say," said Godric. "I was quite shocked when we stepped out of the mirror and saw you standing there."

"And we heard from Merlin about your trip to the elves," said Rowena. "And it _doesn't_ surprise us that he acted that way when he saw you."

"Because Katherine was evil?" asked Cadance.

"Because Eldar is _crazy_," answered Godric. "I'm afraid he didn't give you a very accurate picture of your ancestor."

"What do you mean?" asked Cadance.

"She wasn't evil," said Godric. "And neither was Salazar."

"How can you say that, when Salazar murdered you?" asked Cadance.

"So he made some erroneous choices in life," said Godric. "But I would hardly call him evil. And Katherine… Katherine was not evil either. She was spunky. She was different. You don't understand. Things are not always what they seem. Katherine wasn't evil and neither was Salazar."

"You're right; I don't understand," said Cadance. "I don't understand how you can say that when he _killed you_."

"Salazar has… had… has… If he's dead but he's back, would it be '_has_' or '_had_'?" asked Godric.

"I don't know," said Rowena. "Just pick one and be consistent."

Godric nodded and continued. "Salazar has a temper," said Godric. "We fought that day. I had wanted him to return to the school."

"I still don't understand," said Cadance. "I have a temper but it never caused me to _kill_ anybody… or nobody _human_ at least."

"We came here to try to convince you that your past life was _not_ evil," said Rowena. "We would hate for you to wrongly think something so awful of one of your ancestors."

"I appreciate the efforts," said Cadance.

"We must be leaving," said Godric. "We promised Albus that we'd meet him before dinner."

"You guys go ahead," said Helga. "I want to ask Cadance a few questions about some of her classes."

"We'll see you in the Order Meeting Room," said Rowena as she and Godric exited.

"What questions do you have?" asked Cadance to Helga.

"There are no questions; I want to explain to you about Salazar," said Helga.

"I think I've heard enough," said Cadance.

"No, you don't understand," said Helga. "Rowena and Godric don't want to see it, but deep down inside they know the truth. Salazar was not a good person towards the end of his life. He wasn't necessarily _evil_, but he definitely wasn't good. But Salazar _was _a good friend. Rowena and Godric aren't ready to let that go. But Katherine… they were right about Katherine. She wasn't evil. She was a dear. And so much fun to have around the castle. We missed her after she died."

"He killed her," said Cadance.

Helga paused. "She wasn't happy with him," said Helga. "Back then, women had no choice in who they married. Salazar fell in love with her and asked her uncle, who was her legal guardian, for permission to marry her. She was in love with someone else."

"Why does Eldar think she was evil?" asked Cadance.

Helga paused again. "Sometimes when Katherine was particularly unruly, Salazar would lose his temper. His love for Katherine usually stayed his hand. On one occasion that it did not, however, Katherine ran into the forest. Salazar pursued her. There, they fought. Katherine was powerful. Their bickering caused both of their tempers to flair up and Katherine lost control of her powers. They must have been too close to the Elf settlement because she accidentally set fire too it. Most of it was destroyed. The elves left after that. I suppose they returned later on, but it was after we were all dead."

"Helga," said Cadance. "When we vanquish Voldemort, we may have to Vanquish Slytherin as well. How will Rowena and Godric take it?"

"I couldn't tell you that," said Helga. "But I don't think it will matter. Our stay here is limited anyway. But we'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it. But now I have to leave. Godric and Rowena will be waiting for me." She turned to go out the door.

"Helga!" said Cadance suddenly. "Who did Katherine love?"

"I'm surprised you haven't figured it out already," said Helga smiling. "Our current lives learn from the mistakes of our past lives. Those we love always find us in our future lives."

"Charlie?" asked Cadance.

"His past life, yes," answered Helga.

"Oh, and weren't you looking for that?" She pointed to one of the desks in the room. There was a scroll on it.

Cadance picked it up. "It's my family tree. How did you… where did you….?"

"I spent _all day_ with Merlin today," answered Helga. "You don't spend all day with such a great Wizard and not pick up a few tricks."

Cadance unrolled the scroll. It was very long. It took her a few seconds to find Katherine's name. Katherine was the only heir of Merlin at the time. Though the family tree did not reveal that she had married Slytherin, it did show that she had a daughter. She had carried on the line of Merlin with Salazar Slytherin. "Ewwwwwwwwww," said Cadance. "I'm related to Voldie!"

Then she heard Eldar's words ringing in her ears. "You and the young man were having an affair…"

"Wait, Helga," said Cadance. "It wasn't Slytherin's child, was it?"

"I can't tell you for sure," said Helga. "But in my opinion… no, the child was not Salazar's."

"Ewww, wait a second. If my past life and Charlie's past live had a kid…. And my line was carried on by that child, which makes that kid my ancestor…. Does that make me and Charlie related!" exclaimed Cadance.

"No, Cadance," said Helga. "Charlie is not related to his past life. You are the only person I've ever come across that actually was. I'm not entirely sure what that means. But the point is, you are _not _related to Charlie."

"Thank God," said Cadance. "That would have been creepy."

And now because the author can't think of a better transition into what is going to happen next, this chapter is officially over!


	10. And the drama unfolds

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's.**

"Hi, people!" said Cadance brightly as she looked around at everyone in the Order the next week at the meeting.

"What do we have on the agenda for today?" asked McGonagall. "Duck, Duck, Goose?"

"No," said Cadance. "But I'll think about it for our next meeting. First I would like to congratulate our nine dead friends for being able to fly under the radar all week. There's an empty house in Godric's Hollow that I am having prepared for you guys to spend the day in. There aren't enough room for all of you to spend nights there, but you won't have to worry about being detected there."

"Score!" said Jen. "We are totally on for movies, Godric!"

"Oh my," said McGonagall.

"Next order of business," said Cadance. "By taking what I already know of Voldemort's nature, I have formulated a plan."

"By yourself?" asked Cati.

"Yes," said Cadance.

"Wow," said Cati. "What is it?"

"Well, Halloween is coming up," said Cadance. "Think back to a few years ago… well, several years. We had a costume party…"

"We were attacked," said Dumbledore. "We were caught off-guard. The Death Eaters had a perfect disguise. With all of those people, we didn't notice the extra ones. Especially with everyone in costume."

"So let's have another," said Cadance. "Lure Voldemort back to our turf and catch _him_ off-guard this time."

"He'll know we're expecting him," said Harry.

"So we'll have the papers print that we have a lot of security," said Cadance. "That way he'll know that we know that he knows we're expecting him."

"Did anyone follow that?" asked Snape.

"She said that Voldemort will realize that we know that he knows that we're expecting him," said Cati.

"How does that help us?" asked Arabella.

"Well, he'll come anyway," said Cadance. "But he doesn't know the Order is formed again and he doesn't know that we brought people back from the dead. We'll surprise him."

"How do we surprise him? Maybe when he discovers we're there, he won't come," said Albus.

"We won't let him know you're there until _after_ he's already in," said Cadance.

"How?" asked McGonagall.

"A Masquerade," said Cadance. "Nobody knows who anyone is."

"She's right. You can fool any friend who ever knew you," said Cati.

"I don't know how I feel about the students' involvement in this plan," said Dumbledore. "They'd be in the line of fire. But if we restrict it to 4th Years and above, I believe there are enough of us to protect them and I could be convinced to participate."

"4th Years and above?" asked Molly. "That's fine with me. None of my grandchildren are old enough to attend that way. They'll all be safe and sound and out of the line of fire."

"You've spoke too soon, Molly," said Cati grinning evilly. "I've got a wonderful idea to go along with Cadance's ingenious plan. But first, we have to get permission from Minerva to have our little shin-dig since she_ is_ the Headmistress." The entire Order turned to look at Minerva.

She sighed. "Oh alright," said Minerva. "You can have a Masquerade. But the minute I hear a certain Andrew Lloyd Webber song, we are finished. Is that clear?"

"As clear as Christine Daae's high E," said Cadance.

"You're treading a very fine line," said McGonagall.

"Sorry," said Cadance. "So Cati, what's your plan?"

"Well, who is the first person Voldemort will go after if he sees him?" asked Cati.

"Harry," said everyone at once.

"Exactly!" said Cati. "And who is he going to keep his eyes on, to make sure that they don't spoil his plans… again?"

"Probably you and Cadance," said Arabella. "You embarrass him."

"Exactly," said Cati. "So here's what we do…"

* * *

The night of the Masquerade approached quickly. Harry manned a team of Aurors who stood along the walls. All of the Order Members were present, wearing masks. Also, a few important Ministry employees were present, including Head Auror General Mills. 

General Mills approached Harry, who was standing close to the door. "Ah, Potter," said Mills.

"Evening, General," said Harry.

"How do things look from where you stand?" asked Mills.

"It seems safe so far, sir," Harry replied.

"That's good," said Mills. "Keep a sharp eye out, Potter. It seems that there are more people here than there should…"

He was cut off as smoke filled the room. "We spoke too soon," said Harry whipping out his wand.

When the smoke cleared, several people in black masks had their wands pointed into the crowd. In the middle of the room stood Voldemort. He was holding hostage a person in a blue mask with strawberry blonde hair.

"Shit," spat Harry, stepping forward. "He was supposed to come for me."

"Potter," spat Voldemort, his cold eyes bearing into Harry's green ones.

"Voldemort," said Harry. The crowd fell silent. Harry began circling Voldemort as Voldemort turned to keep his front to him.

"Potter, surrender yourself or else I'll kill Cadance," said Voldemort smirking.

Voldemort's hostage began laughing. Voldemort looked at her. Her laugh was childish. "You, Voldemort, are a fool," said Minerva stepping forward and pulling off her mask and drawing her wand.

Voldemort ripped the mask off of his hostage to reveal none other than a smirking Melinda. With the mask and shoes that made her a few inches taller, she could easily be mistaken for Cadance, and that was exactly what Cati had planned. Voldemort looked over to where three of his Death Eaters had their wands pointed at who they thought was Cati. One took her mask off to reveal Jen with her hair pinned under to make it appear shorter.

Suddenly, Voldemort felt excruciating pain in his back. He wheeled around taking Melinda with him. He found himself looking straight into the bright blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore. Cadance was standing next to him with a brown wig lying at her feet. "YOU!" exclaimed Voldemort.

"Good evening Tom," said Dumbledore.

"Dear old Albus," said Voldemort. "Back from the dead."

"It seems to be the year of returns," said Dumbledore casually.

"Your side isn't the only side to raise a dead relative," said Voldemort.

"You raised just one?" asked Dumbledore. "How very curious! You are slacking, Tom."

"Enough," said Voldemort. "Oh, Salazar! Salazar! Why don't you come in here?"

In through the door walked Slytherin in black cape and a white mask. Cati, who was disguised in a blonde wig, looked upward and saw that she was standing under the chandelier. She took several steps to the left. "The phaaaaaaantom of the opera is there… inside my mind," she muttered as she shed her wig and her mask.

"Salazar!" called a voice from the back of the Great Hall. Godric, Rowena, and Helga were removing their masks as they hurriedly made their way to Cadance and Dumbledore.

Salazar moved forward towards them, but Voldemort stopped him by saying, "Remember the plan, Salazar." Salazar turned back to Voldemort.

"Voldemort, we have another surprise for you. There are actually five more people who we raised room the dead," said Harry stepping up next to Cadance.

"Salazar, take her and return to our lair," said Voldemort roughly pushing Melinda to Slytherin.

"NO!" exclaimed Cadance and Charlie both.

"Nobody move or Salazar will kill her," said Voldemort.

"Great plan, Cati!" exclaimed Cadance sarcastically as Slytherin led Melinda out.

"Now, my fight is with Potter," said Voldemort. "I have no intention of killing off potential, although probably reluctant, followers. So all students please return to your dormitories. NOW!" The students were out of there faster than fat kids in baseball.

"Now… Potter…" began Voldemort.

"If you want Potter you're going to have to go through me, pumpkin," said a voice as an old man in a blue mask hobbled forward.

"And us," said Faith as she David, Scott, and Abigail all threw off their masks and stepped forward.

Voldemort laughed. "This is the best you have! These are the five other people that you brought back from the dead! I already killed four of them! And who the hell is this old guy?"

"Grandpa Merlin," said Cadance. Voldemort cocked an eyebrow at Merlin.

Merlin gave a casual flick of his wrist and several of the Death Eaters rose several feet in the air and came crashing back down. This started a lot of commotion. Wands were drawn and spells were cast.

"Cadance, Charlie," said Merlin. "Melinda is still in the castle. I can sense it."

"Go after her," said Harry firing a spell.

Cadance and Charlie ran towards the door. Voldemort tried to stop them with a spell, but Merlin deflected it and redirected it towards a Death Eater.

At the door, Cadance stopped and turned around. She snapped her fingers and an Indiana Jones hat appeared on her head. She swept it off and bowed. "Good Day, Voldemort!" she shouted. Voldemort shot a spell at her, but Charlie pulled her out of the way and down the hallway.

"Which way are they going?" asked Charlie.

"They must be going out one of the back ways," answered Cadance as they sped down the hallway. Once they reached the end, Charlie asked "Left or right?"

"Left!" they heard a voice exclaim.

"That was Melinda," said Charlie as they went left.

After turning a corner, they caught sight of Slytherin and Melinda. Melinda was putting up a struggle making it hard for Slytherin to get her to move. "Slytherin!" exclaimed Cadance.

"Mom! Dad!" exclaimed Melinda.

Slytherin whirled around and tossed a glass vial at them. It broke on the floor at their feet. Smoke filled the air for about two seconds before it cleared and Slytherin and Melinda were gone. Cadance let out a scream of frustration and sunk to her knees.

"He can't of apparated!" exclaimed Charlie.

"He blinked," said Cadance.

"What?" asked Charlie.

"It's a Sorcerer Power," said Cadance. "I never mastered it."

Charlie knelt next to Cadance and pulled her close to him. "We'll get her back," said Charlie.

"It's all my fault," said Cadance as tears began to fill her eyes. "How are we going to get her back?"

"_We will_," said Charlie as he helped her to her feet.

Suddenly there was a swirl of black orbs. Charlie pulled Cadance back a few steps. A man dressed completely in black appeared in front of them.

"Dark Lighter," said Cadance.

"Lord Slytherin commands the company of Miss Dumbledore," the Dark Lighter responded.

"Mrs. Weasley," corrected Cadance.

"My lord is not a patient man," said the Dark Lighter.

"Charlie, I have to go with him," said Cadance.

"Cadance, no…"

"Charlie, it's the only way to get to Melinda," said Cadance.

"I'm coming too," said Charlie.

"No," said the Dark Lighter. "My orders are for the girl."

Charlie pulled Cadance close and kissed her. "Come back to me," said Charlie.

"I love you," responded Cadance. Charlie kissed her forehead and she stepped towards the Dark Lighter.

Suddenly, General Mills burst around the corner, wand drawn. He fired a spell at the Dark Lighter. "No!" exclaimed Cadance deflecting the spelling and grabbing the Dark Lighter's outstretched hand. In a split second, they were gone.

Two more Aurors came around the corner. "Get word back to the Ministry," said Mills to them. "File a report. Name… Commander Cadance Weasley. Crime… High Treason."

"What!" exclaimed Charlie. "No, you don't understand!"

"I understand that I just watched your wife take off with a demon," said Mills.

"She went to save our daughter," said Charlie.

"And I'm supposed to take you on your word?" asked Mills.

"Just you wait until she comes back with Melinda. You'll see," said Charlie.

"Let's just get back up to the Great Hall," said Mills.

"You'll see," repeated Charlie.

They walked up to the Great Hall. Charlie was surprised to see that the Death Eaters were gone. The Ministry officials were on their way out. The Order alone remained.

"Where are they?" asked Scott hurrying forward.

"Cadance abandoned us, I'm afraid," said Mills.

"What?" asked Cati angrily.

"She went with a Dark Lighter," said Charlie. "Slytherin escaped with Melinda."

"I'm putting a warrant out for her capture," said Mills. "And I want her alive."

"Dad, can't you do something?" asked Charlie.

"There's nothing he can do," said Mills. "I'm in charge of my Aurors. And their punishment."

"But she went to save Melinda!" argued Charlie.

"And there's the little matter of her past life being the WIFE of Slytherin…"

"How did you…?" began Cati.

"It doesn't matter how I know," said Mills.

"When Cadance and Melinda get back, you'll see," said Charlie.

"Fine then," said Mills. "Prove me wrong."

"Well," said McGonagall, breaking up what had the potential to be a fight. "We waited around so Cadance could call a meeting, but I guess there's no point now."

"How did the fight break up here?" asked Charlie.

"They disappeared in a puff of smoke," said Cati.

"But not before Voldemort got a good shot off at Harry," said Bill.

Charlie looked at Harry. "You okay, man?" he asked.

"I'll be fine," said Harry.

"You flew across the room!" exclaimed Ginny. "I think you broke a rib."

"He did," said Merlin.

"Oh, that's great," said Ginny. "Do you hear that? You did."

"Everyone take a seat," said Dumbledore. "I'm taking over in Cadance's absence. Yes, General, you too."

"Aye aye, Captain!" exclaimed Cati bouncing to the Head table. Dumbledore snapped his fingers and more chairs appeared along both sides of the table.

"Charlie, explain everything from the beginning…."

* * *

"Where is Melinda?" asked Cadance as soon as the Dark Lighter orbed them into a very large room. There were oriental rugs on the floor and tapestries on the wall. 

"Over here," said a voice.

Cadance turned to see Slytherin sitting in a high-backed arm chair. Melinda stood next to it. Slytherin had her grasped firmly by the wrist. "Welcome, my dear, to my castle."

"Slytherin," spat Cadance. "Release her."

"As you wish," said Slytherin. He let go of her wrist and Melinda ran to her mother.

"Now let her go back to Hogwarts," said Cadance.

"Evan, why don't you escort Miss Melinda to a chamber where she can be more comfortable for the remainder of her stay here," said Slytherin.

Cadance pushed Melinda behind her. "If either of you reach for her, you'll be pulling back nothing but a bloody stump where your hand once was."

Evan the Dark Lighter was not the brightest crayon in the box, however. He stepped forward. Cadance threw her arm out in front of her and Evan flew backwards.

Slytherin stepped forward. Melinda grabbed her mom's hand and Cadance ran out of the room dragging Melinda with her. They ran down the hallway and into another room. Cadance magically slammed and locked the door behind them.

"Mom, what are we going to do?" asked Melinda panicking.

Suddenly they heard a pounding on the door. Cadance reached into her pocket and pulled out a vial of black liquid. "Melinda this will send you home," said Cadance.

"Aren't you coming with me?" asked Melinda. Suddenly the door swung open and Slytherin stepped in.

"I can't," said Cadance stepping backwards and throwing the potion at Melinda's feet. She was gone in the blink of an eye.

"Well, I can't say I'm not surprised," said Slytherin. "It's exactly what Katherine would have one… if she knew where to find a potion like that. You'll have to show me how you did it some day."

"Go to hell," said Cadance.

* * *

"And then Cadance just grabbed onto the Dark Lighter and they were gone," said Charlie as he finished recounting the story of what happened after he and Cadance left the Great Hall. It was the second time he had retold the story to the same group of people. 

"That doesn't sound like Cadance," said McGonagall.

"What Cadance are you talking about?" asked Cati.

"I only know one Cadance and that actually sounds exactly like something she would do," said Dumbledore.

"I still think that Cadance would never trust a Dark Lighter," said McGonagall.

"And that's exactly what makes it something Cadance would do," said Cati.

"Dear God, Albus, how did you raise my daughter?" asked Abigail.

"You better watch yourself, Gram," said a voice from the doorway. "Mom wouldn't be happy if she heard you talking about Uncle Albus like that."

They stared in disbelief for a second as Melinda walked towards them. Charlie stood up and ran over to her and engulfed her in a big hug. "Where is Cadance?" asked Cati.

Melinda pulled back from Charlie and looked at her aunt. Then she met her father's eyes again and after a moment Charlie realized that Cadance was not there. The Order of the Phoenix (plus Head Auror Pete Mills) watched as Charlie steered Melinda to the Head Table. Melinda sat down in the seat that Charlie had sat in. Charlie knelt by Melinda's seat.

"How did you escape?" asked Charlie.

"Mom threw a potion at me, then suddenly I was in Hogsmeade," said Melinda.

"Why didn't she go with you?" asked Dumbledore.

"She said she couldn't," said Melinda.

"Why?" asked Charlie.

"She didn't say," answered Melinda.

"You see," jumped in Mills. "I told you that she had turned against us. She couldn't go with Melinda because she's staying with Slytherin."

"She wouldn't!" exclaimed Melinda.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but you're too young to understand" said Mills. "And from what I've seen, I've no reason to believe that Cadance isn't evil."

"Dad, what's going…" began Melinda, but Charlie put his hand on her shoulder to quiet her.

"Mr. Mills…" began McGonagall.

"It's _General_ Mills, Professor McGonagall," corrected Mills.

"_Headmistress_ McGonagall," said McGonagall equaling Mills' tone. "And while I am Headmistress, there will be no bad-mouthing any of my professors in front of my students. Especially when the teacher and student have a mother-daughter relationship and when that teacher happens to be my Deputy Headmistress."

"Perhaps you won't be Headmistress for long," said Mills.

"_That's enough_," spat Arthur, rising quickly from his seat. "General, you may have jurisdiction over our Aurors, but I will not allow you to threaten Headmistress McGonagall."

"I'll take my leave then, to make sure my Aurors filed the arrest papers I told them to," said Mills bowing out.

"Arrest papers!" exclaimed Melinda jumping up and shooting death glares at Mills' retreating back.

"I'm sure this will all straighten out," said Harry.

"And if it doesn't?" asked Melinda.

"Anarchy?" suggested Sirius.

"Excuse me?" asked Arthur.

"Nothing," said Sirius.

"What do you suppose Cadance's plan is?" asked Jen.

"What do you mean?" asked George.

"I've never known Cadance to be on the enemy's turf without a plan," said Jen. "She stayed for a reason."

"So what do we do now?" asked Bill.

Everyone looked at Charlie, waiting for answer. "It's late," he said. "We go to bed. In the morning, we'll get a fresh start and try to find Cadance."

* * *

"What do you want with me, Slytherin?" asked Cadance. Slytherin held her tightly by the arm and was walking her down the hallway. 

"I want Katherine," said Slytherin.

"I'm not Katherine," said Cadance.

"Perhaps not," said Slytherin. He opened a door and roughly shoved Cadance in before following.

Voldemort sat on a throne. This room was decorated similarly to the first room Cadance had seen. "Where is the girl?" asked Voldemort.

"Cadance here broke her out," said Slytherin.

"Well, at lease we've still got this one prisoner," said Voldemort. He walked over to a little potion-making station in the corner. He looked inside a cauldron at a potion. "And she's precisely the one we need."

"What do you want with me?" repeated Cadance.

"My ancestor here wants his wife back. And as you are her reincarnation, we need you in order to do that," said Voldemort.

"She never loved you," said Cadance to Slytherin.

"She loved me," said Slytherin. "She was brainwashed by that miserable man who she developed a little crush on."

"She loved him," said Cadance. "And I learned from Katherine's mistakes. I married his reincarnation."

"I noticed," said Slytherin icily.

"Now, Cadance," said Voldemort. "Drink this." He held out a glass that contained a liquid that Voldemort had scooped out of the cauldron.

"Do you think I'm stupid or something?" asked Cadance.

"Either you drink this potion or it's back to Hogwarts I go," said Voldemort.

Cadance paused. "What will it do?" asked Cadance.

"It will allow Katherine to come back and take over your body… her body… your spirit… her spirit," said Voldemort.

"If you don't do it, there will be consequences," said Slytherin.

"You're crazy," said Cadance.

"Voldemort, go back to Hogwarts and kill all you come in contact with. And make sure you come in contact with dear Melinda," said Slytherin.

"NO!" exclaimed Cadance.

Voldemort held out the drink to Cadance again. She took it off of him and downed it. Voldemort and Slytherin watched Cadance for a second then Slytherin reached out and touched the back of his hand to the side of Cadance's cheek.

Cadance pushed him back. "Don't touch me, Slytherin," she spat.

"It didn't work!" exclaimed Voldemort.

"Katherine?" asked Slytherin, staring into her eyes.

"No," said Cadance.

"Why didn't it work?" exclaimed Slytherin.

"Her spirit is too strong," said Voldemort. "Katherine's spirit can't dispel hers."

"How do we fix this?" asked Slytherin.

"I've got an idea," said Cadance stepping closer to Slytherin.

"What is it?" asked Slytherin.

She plunged her hand into Slytherin's robe pockets and pulled out a knife. She quickly stepped back and pointed at her own heart.

"What are you doing?" asked Slytherin with surprise.

"If I die, you lose the only body that Katherine's spirit can potentially possess," said Cadance.

"What are your demands?" asked Voldemort.

"You stay away from Hogwarts as long as I am your prisoner," answered Cadance.

"You are not the one with the upper hand, Cadance," said Voldemort.

Cadance touched the knife to her chest. "It's a deal," said Slytherin speaking up before Voldemort could say anything. "I'll show you to your room."

He turned on his heel and walked out. Cadance raised her eyebrows and Voldemort who shrugged. Cadance followed Slytherin. "Since you will be staying with us for a long while, you can make yourself at home," said Slytherin as they walked down the hallway. "You can go anywhere you'd like, except…"

"The West Wing?" offered Cadance.

"No, the basement. We've got a dangerous boogieman down there," said Slytherin. He stopped in front of one room and opened the door. "Here is your room."

Cadance walked inside. There was a bed, a wardrobe, and a desk. "I've got just one question, said Cadance stepping inside the room.

"What is it?" asked Slytherin, standing in the doorway.

"Can I contact my family?" asked Cadance.

"Absolutely not," said Slytherin.

"Bastard," said Cadance flatly.

"I'll write to them to let them know you're alive," said Slytherin.

"It's better than nothing," muttered Cadance as Slytherin closed the door and walked away. Cadance walked over to the bed and fell backwards on it, making herself comfortable as she tried to think up a plan.

Suddenly there came a knock on the door. Cadance sighed and said, "If this is a talking teapot, I'm out of here."

"It's me," came Slytherin's voice.

"You were just here," said Cadance.

"I know. I want to talk," said Slytherin.

"You were just here," repeated Cadance.

"Can I come in?" asked Slytherin.

"It's a free castle," said Cadance. "Oh wait… no it isn't."

Slytherin opened the door and walked in. "I forgot to tell you that breakfast is at 9," he said.

"Is that all?" asked Cadance.

"Yes," answered Slytherin. He paused. "Why don't you like me?"

Cadance sat bolt upright. "Why don't I like you?" she repeated incredulously. "Are you serious! First of all, you joined my mortal enemy. Then you kidnapped my daughter. Now you're holding me hostage. And additionally, you married then _killed_ my ancestor."

"You're going to have to see past all of that," said Slytherin. "Katherine will."

"_Katherine hated you_," said Cadance insistently.

"It doesn't matter," said Slytherin. "I loved her and I still do."

"If you really loved her, you would want her to be happy," said Cadance.

"Enough," said Slytherin. "Breakfast is at 9. You _will_ be there."

"I _will_ be there," said Cadance. "But not because you insist, but rather because I'm sure I'll be hungry."

Slytherin turned on his heel and walked out, slamming the door behind him. He stormed down the hallway and into Voldemort's throne room. "I _want_ Katherine," said Slytherin. Voldemort sat on his throne twirling his wand through his fingers.

"Well, there's nothing I can do about that now," said Voldemort.

"What can eventually be done?" asked Slytherin.

"Her spirit will break eventually," said Voldemort. "The potion will work then."

"How long will it take her spirit to break?" asked Slytherin.

"Well, we can... _speed up_… the process," said Voldemort giving him a sadistic half-smile.

"No," said Slytherin. "I know what you're thinking. I will not have either myself or my heir be the cause of that much pain to her. Not a finger will be lifted against either her or her husband or child."

"You're soft," said Voldemort.

"You have a letter to write," said Slytherin.

"What?" asked Voldemort.

"I promised the girl we would write a letter to her family to tell her she was alive," said Slytherin.

"You promised her," said Voldemort. "You write it."

"Well, I thought since you already had a rapport with them, you could better write a menacing letter that still fulfills my promise to the host body of my wife," said Slytherin.

"Alright, I suppose," said Voldemort. "But that statement was wrong on so many levels."

* * *

The next morning, the students ate breakfast in almost complete silence. The silence was only broken by the sound of wings as the Owl Post arrived. A large black owl stood out from all the rest. It circled the Head Table once then dropped a letter on Charlie's plate. There were murmurs that ran up through the Great Hall. 

Charlie grabbed the letter and tore open the envelope. He quickly unfolded the parchment inside, and read the words that had been so carefully written on it:

_My Dear Mr. Weasley,_

_How strange a position we find ourselves in! On one hand, I fled… yes I admit it, fled… the battle yesterday without having killed anyone… and you must believe that it would have given me great pleasure to have killed Potter… and I seem to have lost a hostage. On the other hand, I have in my possession a most valuable asset. This asset happens to be the one person you care most for in this world._

_But rest easy! My darling friend Cadance is still alive and well and will remain as such as long as she is of use to us._

_No, this is not a ransom note. Not even for Potter would I trade my new friend. And besides, Lord Slytherin appears quite emotionally attached to her._

_I shall no doubt be seeing you soon. Voldemort._

"Charlie," said Cati. "What is it?"

"Voldemort," said Charlie. "He was just writing to inform me that he will be keeping my wife."

"No classes today," said Cati. "Do you want to go looking for her? We can pack sandwiches."

"What?" asked Charlie distractedly. "I'm sorry; I wasn't listening."

"Did you get any sleep at all last night?" asked Cati.

"Not a wink," responded Charlie.

"Well, Charlie, I think that Voldemort is waiting for a reply," said Cati.

"Why?" asked Charlie.

"Because the big black owl is still here," said Cati. Sure enough, on a rafter high above their heads was the owl.

"Then perhaps I better respond," said Charlie as he got up and started walking out of the Great Hall. About halfway to the door, he felt a presence at his left shoulder. He glanced over and saw Melinda by his side.

Once they got out of the Great Hall, she asked, "Dad, what does he want?"

Charlie sighed. "I'm afraid he wants your mother."

* * *

"A response from your husband," said Voldemort as the large black owl swooped in just as Cadance, Slytherin and he were all finishing breakfast. 

Voldemort opened the letter and read aloud:

"_Dear Voldemort,_

_I do hope this letter finds you in the worst health. And I hope my wife is driving you absolutely crazy. If that be the case, you are welcome to keep her as I am sure in your bout of craziness you will screw up royally, giving her the perfect opportunity to return to my daughter and myself. If she's not yet driving you crazy, give it time. At any rate, when she and I are reunited, there better not be a hair out of place._

_Harry sends his regards._

_Go to Hell._"

"You know my family _will_ come looking for me," said Cadance.

"Shut up and drink your potion," said Voldemort, crumpling the letter up.

"I am _not _drinking it," said Cadance.

"Yes, you are," said Voldemort. "Remember our arrangement."

Cadance rolled her eyes and rank the potion. After a pause, Slytherin said, "Well?"

"I'm still me," said Cadance. "Your potion doesn't work. You're never going to be able to bring Katherine back."

"Silence," said Voldemort. "Remember our arrangement."

"Hey, you have to be nice to me," said Cadance.

"No, I don't," said Voldemort.

"Yes, you do," said Cadance.

"No, I don't," argued Voldemort.

"Yes, you do," said Slytherin.

"Ha! Told you so!" exclaimed Cadance as she got up from the table.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Slytherin.

"I dunno," said Cadance. "Away from you."

"No," said Slytherin. "You will be spending the day with me in my chambers."

"I don't like the sound of that," said Cadance.

"Come now," said Slytherin. "Let's go." He caught her by the elbow and escorted her out of the dining room and through the mansion to a door at the end of a hallway. They went inside. It was a little sitting room with a couch and two chairs. There were two other doors in the room. Slytherin roughly pushed Cadance towards the couch, while he himself sat in one of the chairs.

"Alright, listen, Slytherin," said Cadance. "I don't know what more you want from me. I'm staying here, I'm drinking your stupid potion, and I'm even willing to sit and eat meals with you. Do we have to spend the day together?"

"Darling," said Slytherin. "I don't think you understand the concept of 'prisoner'."

"If you're going to call me 'darling', then it's clear that you're not going to treat me like a prisoner, so I don't know who you're trying to fool," said Cadance.

"Well, how do you think you should be treated?" asked Slytherin.

"Like a guest," said Cadance.

"Oh really?" asked Slytherin.

"Yes," said Cadance. "And I want candelabras and clocks and teapots singing show-stopping numbers about it; complete with a kick line of singing feather dusters, flatware and napkins."

"What?" asked Slytherin.

Cadance put on a really thick French accent and sang, "No one's gloomy or complaining while the flatware's entertaining!"

"Wow," said Slytherin. "When I kidnapped you, I really didn't know what I was getting into."

"Where are we anyway" asked Cadance.

"Well, since you found my other castle, we had to move to this slightly smaller but more secure hideout. The only way in is to know where it is. So naturally, I'm not going to tell you," said Slytherin.

"Can you at least tell me your master plan?" asked Cadance.

"I've got no Master Plan," answered Slytherin. "I was brought back so that Voldemort could be resurrected and as a reward I get you and a seat of power."

"Then what is keeping you from changing sides?" asked Cadance. "What if the good side could offer you more?"

"The one thing I want the most can only be given to me with black magic," said Slytherin. "I want Katherine."

"But _I_ brought people back from the dead," said Cadance. "White magic could give you Katherine, too."

"Do you know why witches were burned, Cadance?" asked Slytherin. "It was believed that if a witch burned, her soul could not move on. The only way to bring her back is to put her soul in another body, and the only body that can accept the soul is the one that it belongs to. That's why you, as Katherine's current life, are the only option for us. White magic cannot do this."

"What are you going to do with me if the potion never works?" asked Cadance.

"You better pray that it doesn't happen," said Slytherin.

"I don't believe in prayer," said Cadance.

"What? A person on the good side who doesn't believe in prayer?" asked Slytherin.

"I don't believe in religion. I haven't for a long time," said Cadance.

"Why not?" asked Slytherin.

"Religion is a muggle thing. They use it to explain away magic when they can't use science," said Cadance. "There is no single being who can control everything. I mean, look at all the things muggles claim that God can do! Walk on heal people, bring people back from the dead, send plagues… I can do all of that. I don't like believing that there is one unseen being that is more powerful than me."

"But it is more than that," said Slytherin. "God is real because so many people have faith in Him. People… especially muggles… need _something_ to believe in."

"If you believe in God, why are you on the Dark Side?" asked Cadance.

"Because I like Satan more," answered Slytherin. "How can you believe in Hell, but not in God?"

"If there truly was a God and he truly were all-powerful, Hell wouldn't exist," responded Cadance.

"There must be cosmic balance. If there truly wasn't a God, Hell _couldn't_ exist," said Slytherin with finality.

**A/N: That's the end of this chapter! Please Review**


	11. Voldemort and Slytherin

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's.

* * *

"She is not breaking," said Voldemort. "We've been giving her the potion for two weeks now." 

"Until she breaks, the potion won't work," said Slytherin.

"We must do something drastic," said Voldemort.

"I already told you," said Slytherin. "I won't allow you to harm her."

"I'm not talking about hurting her," said Voldemort. "But if I could just get my hands around the neck of her little brat…" Voldemort grasped at the air in front of him to make his point.

"No," interrupted Slytherin. "Besides, she can't stay strong much longer. In the beginning, she just saw this as another thing she could beat. Now she's moody and irritable. She's getting more and more homesick. No, it won't be much longer now."

"At the very least, we should bind her Sorceress powers," said Voldemort.

"We have her wand. That should be enough," said Slytherin. Voldemort looked doubtful.

There was a pause, and then "Ah, here comes the little ray of sunshine now," said Voldemort. Right on cue, Cadance walked in. "Hello, Sunshine!" he said brightly.

Cadance waved her hand and a glass that was sitting on the table, ready for lunch, went flying at Voldemort's head. He lifted his hand at the last second and grabbed the glass before it hit him in the head. "Cadance, honey, don't throw things at your cousin," said Slytherin.

"Cousin?" exclaimed Voldemort and Cadance at the same time.

"Yes, well, Cadance you are a descendant of Felicia, who was my and Katherine's daughter. Voldemort, you are a descendant of Brian, my son who I had with my second wife. So technically, you two are distant cousins.

"If you think that Felicia was yours then you are dead wrong," said Cadance. "You didn't even raise her like a daughter after Katherine's death. Godric did. He told me. And Helga told me that she wasn't really your daughter."

"You take that back," said Slytherin.

"No," said Cadance. "You know it's true. That's why you let Godric raise her."

"Go back to your room," said Slytherin.

"What was his name?" asked Cadance, trying to get a rise out of him. "The father of Felicia has to be that man that Katherine loved instead of you. But I never learned his name. Tell me; did it hurt you to see Charlie? He's the current life of that guy; I bet he looks exactly the same just like I look like Katherine."

"I will not tolerate disobedience," said Slytherin.

"You can't tell me what to do," said Cadance.

"We've gone over this every day," said Slytherin. "_Yes, I can_."

"No wonder Katherine hated you," said Cadance.

Slytherin raised his hand as if to strike her, but Voldemort grabbed it. "What was that you were saying to me just a few moments ago?" he asked.

"Cadance, go to your room," repeated Slytherin through gritted teeth.

"I won't," said Cadance.

"Fine then," said Slytherin. "Voldemort, drag her out by the hair."

"With pleasure," said Voldemort stepping forward.

"Voldemort, if you take one more step, I will kick you where it hurts," said Cadance.

Voldemort rolled his eyes and flicked his hand casually. Cadance flew backwards and hit the floor. Voldemort walked over to her and threw her over his shoulder. She began to kick and scream. "Put me down!" she exclaimed.

"Listen, Missy," said Voldemort as they walked out of the room. "I didn't choose to make you a prisoner. If I had my choice, we would have killed you two weeks ago. So please don't take this out on me."

"You are absolutely crazy," spat Cadance.

"Alright, it's clear that you don't want to be here and it's also clear that I don't want you here. So just stay in your room so we don't have to see each other," said Voldemort as he opened the door to her room and dumped her on the floor. He walked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

Cadance got up off the floor and flung herself on the bed, burying her face in her pillow. She tried to think about Charlie and Melinda and what they would be doing right then. She tried thinking about her uncle, who she wished she could be spending time with since she knew the time would soon come when he would have to leave. She thought about her parents and how much it hurt just being around them and how they had abandoned her when she was nine. She thought about Melinda and how she was practically doing the same thing to her.

* * *

At precisely that moment, Hogwarts was sitting down to eat. Charlie was not there. This was not an uncommon occurrence. He hadn't been at any of the meals for the past week and a half. He pretty much taught class and then went to his Common Room. He didn't even spend time with Melinda. He had barely even spoken to her, or anyone else for that matter, for about a week. 

Melinda was a wreck. Her schoolwork was slipping dramatically. She didn't attend Defense Against the Dark Arts class, which was being taught by Gryffindor in Cadance's absence. She spent a lot of time alone, and even Chris Halliwell, who was her best friend, could not get her to smile. This youngest son of the oldest Charmed One was at his wit's end trying to cheer her up. He couldn't even convince her to come to Quidditch practice.

Dumbledore decided that the Order of the Phoenix needed to meet even without Cadance. After dinner, they all met. "Charlie's not here," said Cati when Dumbledore tried to start the meeting.

"I didn't expect him to be," said Dumbledore.

"I haven't seen him in a few days," observed Jen.

"He hasn't left his room except to teach," said Cati. She and Bill were still sharing Cadance and Charlie's Common Room because Dumbledore and Merlin were still staying in theirs.

"I don't think he's slept or ate in days," said Bill. "I tried talking to him yesterday."

"What did he say?" asked Mrs. Weasley concernedly.

"He just said he wasn't hungry," said Bill. "I asked him if he wanted to talk. He said he just wants her back."

"Do you think she's still alive?" asked Snape.

"I think that if she was dead, we'd know," said Dumbledore.

"There's another thing," said Cati. "It's about Melinda."

"I've been meaning to bring that up as well," said Godric.

"Me too," said Snape.

Everyone looked around at each other, waiting for someone to speak up, but since neither Cadance nor Charlie were there, no one did. "Alright, I'll take responsibility for the child," said Jen. "What is it?"

"She hasn't shown up for Defense Against the Dark Arts class at all," said Godric.

"That's not completely unexpected," said Jen.

"I have been cutting her breaks in my class as well," said Cati. "Her work is slipping. She's usually very good in Transfiguration."

"I'm not cutting her any breaks," said Snape. "She's failing my class."

Harry rolled his eyes. "They're _all_ failing your class."

"Just because I have higher expectations than some of my colleagues…"

"Shut up, uncle," said Cati.

"I'll talk to her about it tomorrow," said Jen.

"No," said Bill. "Let's go, Jen." He stood up and started walking towards the door.

"Where are we going?" asked Jen, also standing.

"You're going to talk to Melinda, and I'm going to talk to Charlie," he answered.

Jen looked to Dumbledore who nodded. They walked out of the meeting room and through the staffroom and into the hallway.

"So how are you holding up?" asked Bill as they walked.

"I've been better," said Jen. "But Cadance is strong. She'll make it out alright. She's got to."

"And how is little Freddy doing?" asked Bill.

"Good," said Jen. "I'll bring him and Abby by tomorrow. How is Vivien?"

"Vivien is confused," said Bill. "She knows what is going on, but she doesn't _know_ what is going on. And she doesn't like having to bunk with Cati and I in Cadance and Charlie's spare room."

"She's welcome to come stay with us any time," said Jen

"I'm sure she'd like that," said Bill.

At this point, they reached Charlie and Cadance's Common Room. Jen continued on to Gryffindor Tower as Bill entered. "Charlie!" he called.

"I'm here," said Charlie. Bill looked over and saw that he was raising himself to a sitting position on the couch.

"Hey," said Bill as he walked over and sat down next to Charlie.

"Hey," said Charlie.

"We had a meeting tonight," said Bill.

"I know," said Charlie. "I just… I couldn't…"

"I know," said Bill. He locked eyes with Charlie. "Do you want to talk?"

"I just want Cadance back," said Charlie. "I feel like I'm swimming against the current. I try to reach for her but I keep getting pulled backwards."

"Its all going to be okay," said Bill.

There was a pause. Charlie began fighting back tears. Bill pulled him into a hug as Charlie began to cry on his shoulder.

"Let is out, man," said Bill. "It's okay to cry."

Meanwhile, Jen was negotiating her way into the Gryffindor Common Room. After she tried unsuccessfully to bribe the Fat Lady, Chris luckily happened by. He offered to go in and get Melinda for her.

"Do you want to take a walk?" asked Jen, when Melinda came out.

Melinda shrugged. The two walked in silence until they reached the front doors. "We're going _outside_?" asked Melinda as Jen put her hand on the doorknob.

"Sure we are," she said.

"But it's dark outside," said Melinda.

"I know," said Jen as she opened the door and stepped out. Melinda followed.

"Are you sure it's safe?" asked Melinda as they walked away from the castle.

"No," said Jen. "Nothing is safe nowadays. But it's quiet out here and this is one of the last of the nicer evenings. It'll be cold soon."

"But Voldemort…" began Melinda.

"It's okay," said Jen. "I _will not_ live my life in fear, and you shouldn't either. But we _do_ have to talk. You, young lady, have a lot of explaining to do. _Why_ haven't you been going to class?"

"What's the point?" asked Melinda.

"The point?" asked Jen. "You have to _learn_, Melinda. You have to do your work. You have to get an education. Your mother…"

"My mother is _not_ here," said Melinda bitterly.

"You still need to go to class," said Jen. "Lord Gryffindor has been letting it slide and so has your Aunt Cati, but they're not going to keep doing that for much longer. And Snape says you're failing potions; he's not going to cut you any slack."

Melinda was about to respond when she and Jen heard a sound behind them. They both whipped around, but saw nobody. "Aunt Jen, let's go inside," said Melinda.

"Good idea," said Jen, putting her hand on Melinda's shoulder.

They started walking towards Hogwarts, but as they turned they came face to face with a demon. "Boo," said the demon.

"Shit," said Jen. There was a pause and then Melinda and Jen went flying backwards and landed in a heap on the ground.

"Well, well, well," said the demon as Jen and Melinda crawled to their feet.

"Stand behind me, Melinda," said Jen stepping forward.

"How quaint," said the demon.

Jen threw a fireball at the demon, who dodged it easily. "Do you know where your children are, Jennifer?" taunted the demon. "Safe at home with the House Elf? How do you know they're safe?"

Jen's blue eyes blazed. She sent another fireball. The demon dodged it again and sent an energy ball at Melinda who had stepped out from behind Jen. Jen pushed Melinda out of the way. The demon sent another that Jen couldn't dodge. She hit the ground.

"Aunt Jen!" exclaimed Melinda.

"Melinda!" exclaimed a familiar voice from the direction of the castle.

The demon turned just in time to catch a fireball in the chest. A second later, Cati and Minerva were visible. Minerva finished off the demon as Cati ran and knelt next to the unconscious Jen.

"Aunt Cati, we…" began Melinda.

Cati cut her off, "Run up to the castle, Melinda, and find my uncle. Tell him to meet us in the Hospital Wing. You better get George as well; he's with him."

"Where are they?" asked Melinda.

"Go into the Staff Room and hang a left," said Cati. "Don't ask, just run." Melinda nodded and ran off. She kept running until she reached the staff room. She looked to her left and saw nothing but a wardrobe. She stared at it for a second then realized she could hear voices coming from inside it. She pulled the door open and stepped inside. She was surprised to find herself in a large room with a round table, around which people (many of whom were related to her) were sitting.

"Melinda!" exclaimed George.

Melinda put her hands on her knees and said between gasps of breath, "Outside… demon… Aunt Jen… energy ball… Uncle George… Professor Snape… Aunt Cati wants….Hospital Wing!"

"I'm sorry, I don't speak Albanian," said Sirius.

"She said that a demon attacked her and Jen outside and injured Jen with an energy ball and now Cati would like George and Severus to meet them in the Hospital Wing," said Merlin.

George and Severus immediately stood and ran out of the room. "Melinda, are you okay?" asked Hermione.

"I'm fine," said Melinda.

"Well, I suppose we should adjourn this meeting," said Dumbledore. "I will inform you all as soon as we hear anything about Jen."

Everyone got up and started to head out of the room, talking quietly amongst themselves as they exited. "Melinda, can you wait a minute?" asked Dumbledore. Melinda stopped. Dumbledore waited for everyone else to exit before continuing. "How about if I walk you back to your dormitory and we can have a little chat on the way?"

"Okay," said Melinda. They began their walk to the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Melinda, do you know why your mother is angry with your grandmother and grandfather?" asked Dumbledore.

"Because they died," said Melinda.

"Not just because they died," said Dumbledore. "That's only part of it. They left her when she needed them most. The way your mother sees it, they put the needs of the collective before the needs of their family. Of course, that's not how they saw it, but… do you see what I'm saying?"

"Not really," said Melinda.

"My point is," said Dumbledore, "your mother knows how it feels to lose a mother early. She's going to fight to get back to you. Don't you worry; you will see her again."

* * *

Snape was able to mix a potion and Jen recovered. She had to spend a few days in the hospital wing, however, and George didn't leave her side. Melinda and Charlie were there whenever they could be, too. 

Meanwhile, in Voldemort's lair…

"She refuses to get out of bed, my Lord," said a random Female Death Eater to Salazar Slytherin, who was looking out the window. "She won't even turn her head to look at me. I think she may be sick."

"Take her some breakfast," said Slytherin without turning to face the Death Eater.

"Pardon me, but we tried," replied the Death Eater. "She has not eaten in three days."

"That will be all, Elsie," said Voldemort, who was lounging on his throne. "Leave us now." The Death Eater bowed out, shutting the door behind her.

"It's been three days since the attack on her sister," said Voldemort. "If Jen had died, we would have heard by now."

"The goal was not to kill Jen," said Slytherin. "The goal was to break Cadance. She appears to have lost hope. The attack served its purpose."

"Then what are we waiting for?" asked Voldemort. Slytherin didn't respond. "We should give up," said Voldemort quietly.

"No. But you're right. We must act," said Slytherin. "I'm through playing games. Fetch me my cloak."

* * *

History of Magic was boring. There was no way to put it nicely. Nothing ever happened during that class. 

So it came as quite a shock to the Third Year Gryffindors when suddenly, in a puff of smoke, two cloaked men suddenly appeared in the front of the room. They threw off their hoods to reveal their identities.

"Surprise," said Slytherin as Voldemort pointed his want at Binns, who suddenly became immobile.

"That's special," deadpanned Melinda.

"There is no reason for us to hurt any of you," said Slytherin calmly. "We want Melinda Weasley _and_ her father."

"You'll have to go through me first," said Chris defiantly as he stood up and walked over to Melinda.

Voldemort and Slytherin looked at each other and laughed because, let's face it, a thirteen year old wizard isn't all that menacing. They were about to comment when the door opened and Cati and McGonagall burst in, wands out.

"How do you bloody do that?" asked Voldemort incredulously.

Slytherin, however, moved quickly towards Melinda. He pushed Chris out of the way and then dragged Melinda back to the front of the room. "My dear Mrs. Weasley and Headmistress McGonagall," began Slytherin. "I am going to require the presence of Charlie Weasley."

Cati and McGonagall exchanged a look. Then McGonagall turned to the student closest to her. "Mr. Andrews, please run outside and fetch Professor Weasley. And please hurry." He got up and ran out of the room.

"Let Melinda go," said Cati.

No, I don't think so," said Voldemort.

"She and her father are coming with us," said Slytherin.

"Over my dead body," said Cati.

"That can be arranged," said Voldemort.

"What have you done with Cadance?" asked McGonagall.

"Nothing yet," said Slytherin. "She's alive."

"Alive and well?" asked Cati.

"_Alive_," responded Voldemort.

"Bastard," said Cati.

"Catalin, dear, do you remember the day I tried to kill you, but killed your brother instead?" asked Voldemort. "Your brother isn't here to take a killing curse for you this time."

"Aunt Cati, just let him take me and Dad," said Melinda.

"_No_," insisted Cati.

"Yes, Cati," said Charlie as he stepped through the door.

"How did you get here so fast?" asked Voldemort.

"I have it in with the author," said Charlie.

"What?" asked Voldemort confusedly.

"I could feel it," said Charlie. "I passed Andrews on the way here and he confirmed. Voldemort, you can take us, as long as you promise not to hurt anyone on the way out."

"Charlie, no!" exclaimed Cati.

"Hush, Cati," said Charlie. "We won't put the castle at risk for our sakes. Do we have a bargain?"

"You two are worth more to us alive than any of these people dead," said Voldemort. "It's a bargain." He stepped forward and grabbed Charlie.

"And now, a disappearing act," said Slytherin. "Au Revoir!" And with that he snapped his fingers and Voldemort, Charlie, Melinda, and he disappeared.

At that exact moment, Chris screamed "No!" and disappeared in a swirl of blue lights.

Without missing a beat, McGonagall sent the class back to their dormitories to await further instruction. As soon as they were gone, McGonagall asked "Where the hell did Chris orb off to?"

"It seemed almost like he didn't mean to," said Cati. "But why isn't he back yet?"

"You don't think he orbed into Voldemort's lair do you?" asked McGonagall.

"How could he?" asked Cati. "We tried using White Lighters to find Cadance, but the charms around Voldemort's lair were too strong."

"But what if Voldemort's lair has a Belbestian charm?" asked McGonagall.

"Never heard of it," said Cati.

"It's a charm where you can find a place if you know where it is. Otherwise, it's blocked from all blinking, orbing, and apparating."

"But wouldn't Melinda have been able to find it then?" asked Cati.

"Not if she didn't get herself there the first time," said McGonagall. "But the castle must have let down its guard to let Voldemort and Slytherin in. Chris was probably able to follow them then."

"Great. That's safe," said Cati.

"But now that he's in, he can orb there anytime! The castle will let him in because he's been able to orb there before," said McGonagall.

"Sounds to me like the fanfiction author couldn't find any other way to get us into the castle," said Cati.

"What?" asked McGonagall.

"Nothing," said Cati. "Let's go get Dumbledore and wait for Chris to come back."

"What if Chris doesn't come back?" asked McGonagall.

And because this fanfiction author is a fan of all forms of irony, Chris orbed in at precisely that moment. "Chris!" exclaimed Cati.

"I was…" began Chris excitedly but McGonagall cut him off.

"We know, we know," she said. "Were you seen?"

"No," said Chris.

"Minerva," said Cati. "Your genius is becoming more and more comparable to Albus Dumbledore's everyday."

"Well, thank you for that compliment, Cati," said a voice from the doorway. They turned and saw Dumbledore standing there. His usually bright eyes were dull and solemn.

"Albus…" began McGonagall.

"I already know," said Dumbledore. "And I have taken the liberty of sending Fawkes to the Order Members. They should be arriving soon."

"Do you have a plan?" asked Chris.

"I'm afraid not," said Dumbledore. "But we must act quickly. As much as I hate putting one of the students in the position that I'm about to put you in, I'm afraid we have no choice. We need you to get us into Voldemort's lair."

Cati could tell that Dumbledore knew something more than he was telling. Usually even when something was amiss, his eyes were fiery and bright. Now they were dull. He was worried, and he was never worried like this. He was always the strong one.

"Albus, we need a plan," said McGonagall.

"Let's go to the meeting room to wait for the Order," he said, kind of ignoring her. And Cati began to worry as well.

* * *

"Cadance, my dear, I _do_ have a wonderful surprise for you," said Slytherin as two Death Eaters half-dragged/half-carried Cadance into his throne room. Voldemort was standing by his throne looking smug. 

The two Death Eaters threw Cadance down on the ground. "What is it?" asked Cadance weakly as she struggled to push herself into a sitting position.

Voldemort snapped his fingers and Melinda and Charlie were dragged in. "Cadance!" exclaimed Charlie. He broke free from the Death Eater that held him and darted forward to her as Melinda struggled against her captor.

Charlie helped Cadance to her feet and then held her close. "Aww, what a touching family reunion," said Slytherin.

"Slytherin, what will it take to get my wife out of here?" asked Charlie as he stared worriedly into his wife's pale face.

"A miracle," said Slytherin. "Perhaps you would like to know why you were brought here?"

"Please, let them go," said Cadance.

"I won't leave you here," said Charlie.

"Nobody is going anywhere," said Slytherin. "I'm annoyed with you Madame Weasley. You have not warmed up to me; indeed you have not given me a chance. I'm done playing games with you. And to show you that I am serious, I am going to kill your family."

"No!" exclaimed Cadance.

"Oh, hush, and listen to what I have to say," said Slytherin. "You have two options. You can watch as Voldemort here tortures and kills them both or you can personally kill one of them yourself and I will allow the other to leave and die another day."

"What?" exclaimed Cadance. "No! Please! Kill me instead! Let them both go!"

"No!" said Slytherin harshly. "And if you try anything stupid, I'll kill both of them and then move on to your sister's family. Make your choice."

"Give me an hour or two with them," pleaded Cadance. "Please!"

Slytherin paused. "Granted," he said. "Take the girl away!"

"What!" exclaimed Charlie. "No! Wait!"

"What are you doing?" asked Cadance as Melinda was dragged out kicking and screaming.

"Do you think I'm crazy? All three of you together? No, my two Sorceresses will be split up. You will see her again in an hour's time," said Slytherin as he walked out of the throne room.

"You will be locked in here," said Voldemort as he set up an hour glass. "See you in an hour." He walked past them on the way out the door. Charlie reached out and grabbed his arm, while still keeping one hand around Cadance's waist, holding her up.

"Voldemort," said Charlie. "Please."

Voldemort pulled his arm away and continued on his way. The Death Eaters followed and the door was locked behind them. Cadance and Charlie were alone. Charlie wrapped his arms around Cadance while she began to sob.

"Cadance," said Charlie softly. "You know what you have to do."

"What?" asked Cadance.

"You have to kill me," said Charlie. "To save Melinda." Charlie led her over to the wall and helped her to sit. He sat next to her. She leaned her head against him.

"What will I do without you?" asked Cadance.

"You'll manage," said Charlie.

"No, I won't do it!" argued Cadance. Charlie closed his eyes and rested his head against hers.

* * *

"I'm afraid we have no time to sit her and argue about what is best done," said Dumbledore to the Order of the Phoenix. 

"Why not?" asked Harry.

"Because if my premonition is correct, either Melinda or Charlie or both will be dead within the hour," said Dumbledore.

"We can't let that happen!" exclaimed Jen, standing up.

"I know," said Dumbledore. "But we can't all go to Voldemort's lair. Chris and Wyatt will be transporting us. As the Voldemort's lair lets its guard down for Chris, Wyatt will follow."

"But who will be going?" asked Jen.

"I will be going and so will Merlin. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Jen, and Ginny will all be going with Wyatt. Merlin, Cati, Bill, and Kala will all be coming with me and Chris. Then Chris will return to get more people if and when we decide we need backup."

Immediately protests went up. Everybody who wasn't going wanted to. "Slytherin is our problem!" exclaimed Godric. "Let us come!"

"No," said Dumbledore. "Your positions would make you more vulnerable."

"Albus, Cadance is like my daughter," said Minerva.

"Excuse me!" exclaimed Abigail. "I think sometimes we forget that she _actually is_ my daughter!"

"Come off it, Abigail, you weren't around," hissed McGonagall.

"Stop it, both of you!" exclaimed Merlin.

"Minerva, you can't come because, if you die, there will be no one to run the school," said Dumbledore. "I am hesitant to even allow Harry to come since the future of the Wizarding world is once again in his hands, but we need his Auroring talents. Alastor, you and Arabella are to go to the Ministry with Arthur and organize Aurors in case we need them."

* * *

"Our time is almost up," said Charlie quietly. It was the first thing said between them for a few minutes. They were both still sitting up against the wall. Cadance had her head resting on Charlie's chest. He stroked her hair with one hand and held her hand with his other. 

"It can't be," said Cadance.

"Cadance, there's something I want to take care of before… well… you know. In the safe in our chamber at Hogwarts there's a letter for you and a letter for Melinda. I had intended to give them to both of you the day Melinda got married, but now…"

"Charlie, stop it!" exclaimed Cadance. "You're going to be there to give them to us! Don't talk like that!"

"Cadance, you have to see this realistically," said Charlie.

Cadance threw her arms around his neck and held tight. "When am I going to wake up from this horrible nightmare?" she asked.

"Promise me" whispered Charlie.

"I can't," said Cadance. "I won't do it. We'll think of something!"

"Cadance…" said Charlie.

"Why is this happening?" asked Cadance. "Why us! We were happy! We have a wonderful family! We work hard! We're _good_ people! Why is this happening to us!"

Suddenly the door opened and Slytherin strode in. Voldemort followed dragging Melinda with him. "Time is up!" called Voldemort.

"No, not yet!" exclaimed Cadance.

"I love you," said Charlie to Cadance as he helped her to her feet. Melinda broke free from Voldemort and ran over to her mother and father. They pulled her into a hug.

"So, Cadance, what's your decision?" asked Voldemort. By now, Cadance was sobbing on the verge of hysterics.

"Cheer up, pumpkin," said Slytherin. "The pain will go away. _What is your decision_?"

Cadance took a deep breathe and looked into Charlie's eyes. He nodded. Cadance leaned in and kissed him. When they broke off, Cadance whispered, "I love you," to him.

Charlie pulled Melinda into a hug. "Take care of your mother," he whispered to her. She was crying as well.

Cadance grabbed Melinda by the shoulder and they backed up next to Voldemort. "It seems you have made your choice," said Voldemort.

"Return her wand so she can do it," said Slytherin.

Voldemort reached into his robes and pulled out her wand and handed it to her and she raised it and took a deep breathe. Suddenly, she lowered her wand and pushed Melinda out of the way. She pointed her wand directly at Slytherin and exclaimed, "_Expelliarmus!_" Slytherin went flying backwards into the wall. He hit the floor and didn't move. She quickly turned her wand to Voldemort who was pointing his wand directly at her.

"Wrong move, Cadance," said Voldemort. "_Crucio_."

Cadance dropped to her knees, trying not to scream out in pain. Her wand fell to the floor. Melinda dove forward and grabbed it, pointing it at Voldemort. Voldemort laughed and released Cadance from the Cruciatus curse. "You're a spunky one," said Voldemort to Melinda as Charlie rushed over to help Cadance to her feet. "What did you think that you, a little girl, could do against me, the greatest and most powerful wizard of all time?"

Suddenly, Voldemort looked down and noticed that the hem of his robe was on fire. He looked back at Melinda with a curious look on his face. "And I didn't even have to use a wand to do that," said Melinda. Voldemort began stamping out his robe.

Cadance used the distraction to their advantage. She waved her hand at Voldemort, sending him flying. He landed next to Slytherin, who was finally beginning to stir.

"Come on!" exclaimed Cadance, getting her wand from Melinda. She waved a hand at a cupboard in the corner, which caused the doors to blow off their hinges. Inside were Charlie and Melinda's wands, plus a few items Cadance had on her when she arrived at the lair, including two of her knives and some rope. They grabbed their stuff and headed for the doors. They swung open magically as they approached and as they ran through them, they could hear Slytherin scream "STOP THEM!"

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the castle, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Jen, Wyatt, Chris, Merlin, Cati, Bill, Kala, and Dumbledore were making their way quietly through the hallways. "Hey, Cati," whispered Kala. "Do you remember Frank the duck?"

"Yeah," said Cati.

"I miss him," said Kala.

"Kala," said Cati. "We're kinda in the middle of something. Can we talk about Frank later?"

"Okay," said Kala.

"Shhhh!" said Harry. "Do you want to give our position away?"

They turned the next corner in silence. They continued walking a little then suddenly Cati saw something out of the corner of her eye. "DUCK!" she exclaimed.

"Where?" asked Kala as everyone else dropped to the floor. Cati grabbed Kala and pulled her down just as an arrow flew over their heads.

"Look out!" exclaimed Dumbledore looking down a side hallway. There were a handful of Dark Lighters aiming their bows at them.

Suddenly they heard a voice shout "STOP THEM!" Everyone, Dark Lighters and Order Members alike, looked around confusedly for a second before suddenly Cadance, Charlie, and Melinda came barreling through the Dark Lighters, knocking over two of them.

"Hey!" exclaimed Cati. "I found them! I win the poll!"

"You don't win jack-shit," said Kala. "_They_ found _us_!"

Cadance, Charlie, and Melinda skidded to a halt in front of the group. "Run!" exclaimed Dumbledore grabbing Melinda by the forearm and pushing her in front of him, as far away from the Death Eaters as possible. They ran down the side hallway as a bunch of arrows were shot at them. They were about to duck into a room when a taunting voice called out, "Harry! Harry, come out and play!"

He stopped suddenly. Bill ran directly in to him. "Harry, move!" exclaimed Charlie.

"Harry, our battle will NEVER be over!" exclaimed the voice.

"Voldemort," hissed Harry as Voldemort turned the corner with Slytherin behind. Cadance roughly shoved Melinda, Chris, and Wyatt into a room. She snapped her fingers and the door locked. Melinda immediately began banging on the door.

"Harry," whispered Dumbledore.

"I can finish this now," Harry whispered back.

"I hate to interrupt," whispered Cadance leaning in. "But I'm rather ready to go home. So let's end this quickly."

"Harry!" exclaimed Voldemort.

Harry stepped forward, wand drawn. "Voldemort, this is between you and me. Leave them out of this."

"It's not in my nature, Potter," said Voldemort. "However, since this is our battle, I will allow all of you to leave. Except Cadance."

"No!" exclaimed Charlie.

"Come on, Voldemort," said Harry. "Let them walk away."

"Harry, _no_," said Ginny grabbing his arm.

"Why are we just standing here?" asked Cati. "There are only two of them."

There was a pause, and then Cadance and Cati exchanged a look and then threw fireballs at them. Voldemort and Slytherin quickly dodged them and Slytherin raised his arms in front of him. Bill, Charlie, Ginny, and Kala all went flying into the air and hung there. Voldemort pointed his wand at Dumbledore and fired a jet of light at his stomach. He flew backwards against the wall.

Jen used her telekinetic powers to throw a suit of armor at them. It froze right before it hit them. It suspended in midair for a few seconds before dropping to the ground. Suddenly, a lot of Death Eaters rushed in with their wands out. "Give up, Potter," said Slytherin.

Harry caught Cadance's eye. She gave a nod. Harry lowered his wand. Cadance started to help Dumbledore to his feet. "Don't move, Cadance," said Slytherin as he and Voldemort let Charlie, Bill, Kala and Ginny down.

"Up yours, Salazar," said Cadance and she caught her uncle's forearm and helped him to his feet.

"That one will cost you," said Slytherin.

"Yeah right," responded Cadance.

Slytherin stepped forward and Cadance quickly pulled her wand out and pointed it at him. "Come here, Cadance," he hissed.

"I'm walking out of here, Slytherin," said Cadance.

"You're not going anywhere," said Slytherin.

"Try me," said Cadance.

Slytherin raised his hand at Cadance and then slowly clenched his fist. Cadance's hands flew to her throat and she began to cough.

"What are you going to her?" exclaimed Charlie as he caught her by the arm, just as she was about to collapse to her knees.

"He's choking her," said Merlin. "Look out." He pushed Harry and Ginny out of the way. He snapped his fingers and Slytherin's hand unclenched, freeing Cadance from his grasp. She collapsed panting into Charlie's arms.

Voldemort snapped his fingers and doors behind the heroes of this story slammed shut, blocking the only way out of the castle. Their only means of escape was now through Wyatt and Chris who they couldn't risk exposing to the Death Eaters.

"And so here we are," said Slytherin. "You're not going to make it out of this alive without cooperation. Cadance and Harry, you come with me. The rest of you, follow Lord Slytherin."

"Death first," spat Cadance.

Suddenly, there was a pounding on the door that Voldemort had slammed shut. Then a familiar voice called out, "Open this door in the name of the Ministry of Magic! I am authorized to blow this door up!"

"And she'll do it, too!" exclaimed another familiar voice.

"Arabella? Sirius?" asked Cadance.

Jen opened the door to the room that Cadance had shoved Melinda, Wyatt, and Chris in. "Hey, kids are gone!" called Jen.

"Kids got help!" exclaimed Melinda's voice from the other side of the door.

Slytherin snapped his fingers and Harry and Cadance disappeared and then reappeared in front of him. He grabbed both of them by their wrists and suddenly he, Cadance, Harry, and Voldemort disappeared in a puff of smoke just as a hole was blown in the door.

A dozen or so Aurors crawled in, with Sirius, Remus, Arabella and General Mills leading the way. Melinda was told to stay back. The Death Eaters started firing spells and everyone else began to block them. "Where is Potter?" asked Mills as he dodged a spell.

"Slytherin took him and Cadance," said Charlie.

"Where?" asked Mills.

"I can find them," said Merlin.

"Take me with you," said Mills.

"Me, too," said Charlie.

"Can you guys handle this?" asked Mills.

Dumbledore glanced over at Cati and Kala who were both expertly handling no less than three Death Eaters a piece. "I think we'll manage."

* * *

Meanwhile, Slytherin had transported them to his private sitting room. He immediately grabbed Cadance's wand from her and tossed it to the side. He grabbed her, pinning her arms to her side. She struggled as Harry and Voldemort faced off. Voldemort snapped his fingers and what little furniture that was in the spacious room disappeared. 

Slytherin began dragging Cadance to a door on the side. She fought him the entire way. The sound of his boots clicking on the marble floor echoed through the room. They reached the door and it burst open magically. "Harry!" exclaimed Cadance as Slytherin started to shove her in.

Harry turned his head. Voldemort took the opportunity to knock him off his feet. As he stood up, Slytherin pushed Cadance into the room and then entered himself. He slammed the door shut as Cadance darted away from him. They were in Slytherin's bedroom. Slytherin darted after Cadance and chased her around the room for a bit. He finally caught her by the wrist. "I dare you to fight me," he said pulling a knife out of his robes.

Cadance closed her eyes. "What do you want?" she asked. Slytherin ran a finger down her cheek.

"You're staying here," he whispered.

Cadance shivered and tentatively opened her eyes. Her blue eyes looked into Slytherin's cold grey ones. She felt like puking.

She had never really noticed Slytherin's features before. He was at least a thousand years old, but he looked young. His dark hair was neatly gelled back. His eyes were bearing into hers. He pulled a potion out of his pocket.

"No!" exclaimed Cadance. "I won't take that anymore!"

"_You will_," he said opening the bottle. He grabbed her by her hair and pulled it roughly, tilting her head backwards. He poured the contents of the bottle down her throat.

Cadance coughed and sputtered. "It doesn't work," she coughed. "You'll never see Katherine again!"

"Ah, but by now you've taken this potion pretty steadily," said Slytherin. "What you don't know is that too much in large quantities makes the potion a veritable poison."

Cadance looked confused. "I put twice as much of the active ingredient in that batch," said Slytherin. "Not enough to kill you, but enough to make you feel very sick. As we speak you're probably feeling weaker and weaker. Your energy is draining. This might be what it feels like to die."

As he spoke, Cadance _did_ begin to feel weaker. She collapsed and Slytherin caught her. "You have two choices. One is to stay here and the other is to die. Take your pick," he said.

"Kill me," said Cadance. "I won't stay here."

"Your choice," said Slytherin as he raised his knife over his head.

Meanwhile, Harry and Voldemort were battling fiercely. Both Harry and Voldemort cast a disarming spell at the same time. The spells met in the middle and knocked them both off their feet. Their wands went flying. Harry landed next to Cadance's discarded wand. He picked it up and pointed it at Voldemort. Voldemort waved his hand and summoned his own wand.

"Give up, Potter," said Voldemort.

"No thanks," said Harry. He fired another spell and Voldemort was knocked off his feet again. Harry quickly summoned his own wand and then pocketed Cadance's.

Just then, the door burst open and Merlin, Mills, and Charlie rushed in. Harry and Voldemort kept fighting. "Slytherin and Cadance are in there," said Harry pointing to the room that they were in. Voldemort took the opportunity to fire a spell at Harry. Charlie pushed him out of the way.

In the other room, Cadance was lying on the bed, bleeding from the chest. Slytherin was standing by her as she slipped in and out of consciousness. "You know, if you don't get medical attention soon, you won't make it. That potion is making this even worse. You will probably pass out from the pain soon." He put his hand on her forehead. "It's a real pity."

Just then, the door swung open and Merlin and Charlie rushed in and stopped dead in their tracks. Slytherin looked up. He snapped his fingers and in a puff of smoke, he disappeared.

Charlie and Merlin rushed over to the bed. Charlie lightly smacked Cadance's face to get her to open her eyes. "Charlie," she whispered. Charlie gently lifted her into a sitting position and pulled her close to him.

Suddenly, there was a crash from the other room. "I'll be right back," said Merlin as he walked as quickly as possible out of the room. He saw Harry lying on the ground and a window behind him was shattered. Mills was starting over to him to help him to his feet. Voldemort sent another spell at Harry, but Merlin sent it in a different direction. Voldemort was about to retaliate when Slytherin's voice filled the room.

"Call off the Death Eaters, Voldemort," said Slytherin. "It's time to go." Suddenly Voldemort disappeared in a puff of smoke. Merlin ran over and helped Harry to his feet. They followed Mills into the other room.

By this time Charlie was supporting most of Cadance's weight as she stood next to him. "Mr. Weasley, step away from the fugitive," said Mills.

"Excuse me?" asked Charlie.

"In case you don't remember, I have a warrant out for her arrest," said Mills.

"Are you kidding me?" asked Harry incredulously. "Look at her! She is clearly _not_ on Voldemort's side."

"Charlie?" asked Cadance softly and slowly. "What's going on?"

"It's okay," said Charlie as he pulled her closer.

"Harry, help me make this arrest," said Mills.

"No, General," said Harry. "She's my sister-in-law and you're wrong."

Suddenly, three Aurors rushed in. "Men," said Mills. "Arrest Mrs. Weasley."

"Charlie, just let them take her," said Merlin. "We can go get your father and he can straighten it all out. We can't have you arrested, too."

"Are you going to be okay?" asked Charlie to Cadance.

"I don't know," said Cadance, closing her eyes.

"I'll come for you," he whispered. "Soon." She nodded. He kissed her forehead and then let two Aurors take her away. "Make sure she gets medical attention," he said to their retreating backs.

"You made the right choice," said Mills as he tossed a pouch of Floo Powder to one of the Aurors. He nodded at Charlie and then followed them out.

Charlie turned to Merlin. "You're supposed to know everything," he said. "How will this end?"

"The future is cloudy," said Merlin. "Hope for the best."


	12. More Drama

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's.**

**A/N: If you're reading this, drop a review please!**

Charlie, Merlin, and Harry hurried down the corridor. They reached the place where they had left their companions. They were all standing there, talking and looking quite official. "They arrested Cadance!" exclaimed Charlie urgently.

"What?" asked Sirius dumbfounded.

"What happened here?" asked Harry.

"The Death Eaters just disappeared," said Remus.

"Come on," said Charlie. "They hooked a fireplace in Slytherin's room up to the Floo Network. Let's get out of here."

* * *

"This is ridiculous," said Mr. Weasley calmly after Charlie related the story to him after the entire Order of the Phoenix reunited in the Great Hall. "But Charlie, I'm not sure how much sway I have over the matter."

"Dad, you're the _Minister_!" exclaimed Charlie.

"Charlie, the Auroring system is a part of the Ministry, but I have almost no influence over it. It's a way to keep the Minister in check, so the Aurors are independent in case the Minister ever turns evil or is unfit to act," said Mr. Weasley.

"But, Dad, you got to _appoint_ the Head Auror!" exclaimed Charlie.

"It's a Ministry-wide effort," said Arthur. "It must be approved by a panel of Ministry Members."

"Alright, clearly, we need to break her out," said Sirius.

"No," said Arthur. "Charlie, come with me. We're going to try to talk with Mills. Everyone else, stay here and wait for word from us."

"Dad?" asked Melinda grabbing Charlie's arm. "Is mom going to be okay?"

Charlie gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "Stay here, Melinda," he said.

"Let's go, Charlie," said Arthur. "Wyatt, orb us to the Ministry. Time is of the essence."

Wyatt nodded and put a hand on each of their backs. They were gone in a blink of an eye and a swirl of lights.

"Come on, Melinda," said Jen putting a hand on Melinda's shoulder. "Let's get you to your dorm."

"I don't want to," said Melinda. "I don't want… questions. I don't want to explain…"

"You can stay in my office," said Cati. "And if I don't hear from Charlie or Arthur soon I'm going to find Cadance myself."

"I'll go with you," said Sirius.

"Now is not the time or the place to discuss this," said Dumbledore. Everyone jumped, as he had been surprisingly silent for a while. "Let's just wait to hear from them. Hopefully it will be good news."

* * *

The minute Charlie, Mr. Weasley, and Wyatt got to the Ministry, they could tell that word of Cadance's arrest had already made it there. The Auroring department was positively buzzing. Mr. Weasley led the way to General Mills' office. As they passed people, they stopped talking and watched the trio pass. They pushed past Mills' secretary and into his office.

"Mills," said Arthur as they entered. "What is the meaning of this?"

"I figured you would be coming," said Mills. "As you know, I don't have to answer to you. But I stayed to answer your questions out of respect. I _do_ have a great deal of respect for you, Minister."

"Don't patronize me," said Arthur sharply. "Release my daughter-in-law _now_."

"Mr. Weasley, I will tell you exactly what I told… _a friend_…" began Mills.

"A friend?" asked Charlie.

Mills ignored him and continued. "Mrs. Weasley is under investigation for high treason. While I understand that you are the Minister and you pretty much run the show, when it comes to matters such as this _I_ am in charge. Mrs. Weasley will have a trial next week and if she is found innocent, I will be the first one to apologize. But until then…"

They were interrupted as the door to the office opened and an Auror led in none other than Cassandra Fudge, Cadance's rival form earlier in this story. "I'm sorry, sir, but she was trying to break _into_ Azkaban. I was going to have her arrested but that seemed a bit anti-climactic since we'd be helping her get where she wanted. Plus, I believe this is all more of a _domestic dispute_ anyway."

"_Cassandra_," said Mills through gritted teeth. "_I told you_…."

"No, _Peter_," said Cassandra. "I told _you_. You're being a real _asshole_."

"Wait a second," said Charlie. "_You_ were his 'friend' that he mentioned? You were going to try to help Cadance?"

"Well, yes," said Cassandra. "I might not _like_ the woman but I _know_ she's not a Death Eater. And Peter is pretty much just trying to show her who is boss."

"Oh my God, you're shacking up with the Head Auror!" exclaimed Charlie.

"We're not _shacking up_," insisted Mills.

"We're _casually dating_," said Cassandra.

"Alright, I've had about enough of this," said Charlie. He walked over to Mills and grabbed him by the front of his robes. "What are you trying to prove? Cadance has _never_ done _anything_ for the Dark Side. She has _always_ been loyal to the Ministry. Let her go."

"Mr. Weasley, I can have you arrested," said Mills.

"Oh, listen to him, Pete," said Cassandra pulling out a nail file and casually buffing her nails.

"Alright, perhaps I have been a little over-enthusiastic with my accusation," said Mills. "I'll sign the papers and she'll be released in the morning pending an interview with me while she's under the influence of a truth potion."

"No," said Charlie. "NOW!"

"Listen to him, Peter," said Cassandra. "You're starting to tick me off."

"Or now works, too," said Mills. "Let's go to Azkaban then." He got up and threw some Floo Powder in the fireplace.

"We'll meet you there," said Charlie. He grabbed Wyatt's shoulder and Arthur did the same. "To Azkaban." They orbed out.

They only had to wait a few seconds for Mills and Cassandra to roll out of the fireplace. "Follow me," said Mills. He led the way out of the room and into the hallway. They walked down a few corridors Mills nodded greetings to several Aurors they passed.

As they neared the end of one corridor Mills nodded at one Auror. "Frank, your services are no longer required here. Mrs. Weasley is to be released."

"Yes, sir," said the Auror. He nodded at Mr. Weasley and walked back down the hallway.

"She's around the corner," said Mills. They turned the corner and froze at the sight they saw.

Cati, Sirius, and Wendy were crowded around the door trying to pick the lock. They turned around slowly to stare at the newcomers. "Whoa!" exclaimed Cassandra. "They're good! I couldn't even get _in_!"

"I'm not even going to ask," said Mills as he pulled a key out of his pocked. Sirius, Wendy, and Cati backed up so that he could get to the door.

"Hey, Sergeant Cereal," said Cati. "Tell me… why _are_ Trix just for kids? Why couldn't they just let that silly rabbit have some damn breakfast?"

"Shutup, Catalin," said Mills as he swung the door open.

"Oh God," said Cati as she looked in.

Inside, Cadance was lying on the floor with her back to the door. She wasn't moving. Charlie pushed past Mills and rushed over to her with Sirius right behind. Charlie knelt next to Cadance and grabbed her shoulder while Sirius felt for a pulse. Cati rounded on Mills. "What did you do!" she barked.

"General, you have some explaining to do," said Mr. Weasley sternly.

"I told you when you took her that she needed a doctor," spat Charlie.

"She's still alive," said Sirius.

"You are _lucky_," said Cati to Mills. "If she were dead, you would be, too."

"Do you promise, Cati?" asked Sirius as Charlie gathered Cadance up in his arms. "Because you may have to fulfill that promise yet."

"What?" asked Cati.

"She's not out of trouble yet," said Sirius. "We need to get her to Hogwarts."

Cati turned to Mills and grabbed him by the front of his robes, swinging him around until his back was against the wall. "Cati, no!" exclaimed Mr. Weasley grabbing her shoulders.

"Wyatt, orb them," said Wendy gesturing to Charlie and Cadance. Wyatt nodded. He grabbed Charlie's shoulder.

"I'm going, too," said Sirius. Wyatt used his other arm to grab Sirius's shoulder as well and orbed them out.

"Cati, let go of him," said Mr. Weasley.

"What did you do to her?" asked Cati giving Mills a little shake.

"Hey!" exclaimed Cassandra putting a hand on Cati's shoulder.

Cati looked over at her. "What? Are you sleeping with him or something?" she asked. There was an awkward pause and then Cati screamed, "OH MY GOD!"

"Cati, let him go," said Mr. Weasley. "If Cadance dies, then you can kill him and you'll have my blessing, but until then you're going to have to let him go."

"Alright," said Cati releasing Mills. "But you better pray she's okay."

"Let's go," said Mr. Weasley grabbing Cati's shoulder and steering her away. Wendy followed. They went back down to the nearest fireplace and traveled to Hogwarts using Floo Powder. They ended up in Headmistress McGonagall's office. She wasn't in.

"She must know about Cadance," said Mr. Weasley. "Let's go to the Hospital Wing."

"I'll go to the meeting room and let the rest of the Order know what happened," said Wendy.

They split up. Cati and Mr. Weasley ran all the way to the Hospital Wing. Charlie and Sirius were standing outside the doors in silence. "What's going on?" asked Cati.

"Madame Pomfrey is in there with her now," said Sirius. "They made us wait out side."

"Dumbledore is in there, too," said Charlie. "And so are Ravenclaw and McGonagall."

"Ravenclaw is supposed to have been great with this kind of stuff," said Sirius. "Madame Pomfrey sounded hopeful."

"Yeah, well, she said she's seen worse," said Charlie.

"That's hopeful," said Sirius.

"Did she say that any of these worse cases survived?" asked Cati.

Charlie and Sirius exchanged a look. Mr. Weasley slapped Cati on the back of the head. "Alright, look out I'm going in," said Cati. She rolled up her sleeves and then pushed open the Hospital Wing doors, closing them behind her.

There was a pause then four voices roared "OUT!" Cati pulled the door open and hurried out.

"They yelled at me. But I'm _Cati_."

"Well, what do we do now?" asked Sirius.

"We wait," said Charlie.

"Well, I don't wanna," said Cati. "I'm going to find a way to find out what's going on in there." She ran off down the corridor.

"Should we be worried?" asked Sirius without emotion.

"Probably," said Mr. Weasley.

"I'll go," said Sirius. He walked off in the direction Cati had taken.

"How are you holding up?" asked Mr. Weasley putting his hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"I'm still alive," said Charlie.

"You and Melinda were lucky," said Mr. Weasley.

"I would gladly have been less lucky if Cadance could have been more lucky," said Charlie. "These past few months…"

"They've been tough," interrupted Mr. Weasley. "For everyone."

"And now this…" began Charlie.

"She made it out of there," said Mr. Weasley. "That's the biggest step. If she can do that, she can do anything."

Charlie was about to respond when they both heard Professor McGonagall's voice shriek, "Catalin Marie Nuperson Weasley!"

There was a long pause and then they heard a faint splash. Charlie shook his head. "Oh boy," he said. "What are we going to do with her?"

"Put her in a bubble so she's not a danger to herself?" offered Mr. Weasley.

"I wonder if she found anything out," said Charlie.

"Everything will be okay," said Mr. Weasley.

"You don't know that," said Charlie.

"You've got to stop thinking like that," said Mr. Weasley.

"And how _should_ I be thinking?" asked Charlie.

Before Mr. Weasley could respond, Sirius returned. "Well, Cati's an idiot," he declared. "She went into Cadance's office, climbed out the window, landed on the ledge, shimmied on over to the Hospital Wing window and looked in. Then Professor McGonagall yelled at her and she fell off the ledge and into the lake. I made sure she didn't drown then I came back."

Suddenly, the door opened and Dumbledore was standing there. His face looked tired. His blue eyes were dull. They looked at him expectantly. He opened his mouth to speak. The words came out slowly and carefully. "She's very lucky," he said softly. "It looks like she's going to be fine."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Can I see her now?" asked Charlie.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "But I'm afraid the rest of you will have to wait until morning. She hasn't woken up yet."

"We'll go to the Order Meeting Room and let them know," said Mr. Weasley.

"A very good idea," said Dumbledore. "And please let them all know that they will be contacted in the morning and tell them to get some sleep."

Mr. Weasley nodded and he and Sirius walked off down the hallway as Dumbledore and Charlie walked into the Hospital Wing.

"Madame Pomfrey pushed another bed together with Cadance's so you can get some sleep," said Dumbledore. "You _need_ sleep. You've been through a lot today and it's late."

Charlie nodded. Before proceeding on to bed, he stopped and put a hand on Dumbledore's arm to stop him from leaving. "Albus, I…" began Charlie. "Thank you…"

"Charlie," said Dumbledore silencing him. He put his hand on Charlie's shoulder. "_Thank you_. You've taken good care of her."

Charlie looked over at the bed. He suddenly noticed that McGonagall was asleep in a chair beside Cadance. "Is she okay?" asked Charlie.

"She's just tired," said Dumbledore.

"And where's Ravenclaw?" asked Charlie.

"I believe she's in Poppy's office having a stiff drink," said Dumbledore. "_To bed_."

Charlie gave him a smile and turned to the bed. He climbed on and laid down on his side looking at Cadance. He reached out and grabbed her hand. He fell into a deep sleep almost immediately. In fact, it was so deep that he didn't even wake up when Cati bounced in dripping wet, announcing that she just wanted to see that Cadance for herself to make sure she was alive. And he didn't even wake up as McGonagall avenged her own disrupted slumber by giving Cati a forceful kick in the butt.

Cadance, however, was regaining consciousness. She felt too tired to open her eyes, though she tried. She drifted back off to sleep, only to wake back up an hour later. This time she slowly opened her eyes. She looked to her right and saw McGonagall sitting in a chair sleeping. Cadance gave a small cough. Her throat felt dry. McGonagall woke with a start. "Oh, Cadance," she said sounding relieved.

"Sorry," said Cadance softly.

"For what?" asked McGonagall.

"Waking you," said Cadance.

"Don't worry about that," said McGonagall. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Sore. My chest hurts," said Cadance. "What happened…?"

McGonagall cut her off. "There will be plenty of time for questions in the morning," she said. "Now you should get some sleep."

Cadance nodded and rolled over on her side. She smiled at Charlie and squeezed his hand. She inched closer to him and fell back asleep.

* * *

In the morning, Cadance woke up when the sun began to rise. McGonagall was no longer in the chair. Cadance tried to push herself into a sitting position but she was too sore. She looked back over at Charlie and used her index finger to stroke his nose. He wrinkled it and snatched her finger. "Wake up," said Cadance.

Charlie opened his eyes. "Cadance?" he asked sleepily. He sat up and then pulled her into a hug. "I was so worried."

"I know," said Cadance. "I'm okay. What happened?"

"What?" asked Charlie.

"What happened? The last thing I remember was the Aurors dragging me away from you," she said.

"They took you to Azkaban," said Charlie. "Dad and I went to Mills and convinced him to let you go. But we were almost too late. You were barely alive. We brought you back here and your uncle, Minerva, Ravenclaw, and Madame Pomfrey worked on you. Cati fell in the lake."

"And the Death Eaters?" asked Cadance.

"They just disappeared," said Charlie.

"And how is everyone else?" asked Cadance.

"Everyone's okay. Harry has a few bumps and bruises but he's alright," answered Charlie. "How are you feeling?"

"My chest hurts," said Cadance.

Suddenly, Madame Pomfrey bustled in. "Ah, I thought I heard you two. How are you feeling, Cadance?" Charlie got up and moved to the chair that McGonagall had been sitting in the previous night. Pomfrey flicked her wand and the bed that had been pushed next to Cadance's for Charlie moved back to its original spot.

"Oh, I'm just peachy," said Cadance sarcastically. "Could you get my personal trainer in here? I feel like doing some jumping jacks."

"That's nice," said Madame Pomfrey. She lifted Cadance's wrist to take her pulse. She frowned. "You're still not even close to being better. You'll have to relax for a while. I'd rather you stayed here, but I know you won't want to."

Suddenly, Cati bounced in the door. "Cadance!" she cried happily. She gently nudged Cadance over a bit and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Hi, Cati," said Cadance. "How ya doing?"

"Eh, can't complain," said Cati. "You?"

Cadance ignored her as Dumbledore walked into the Hospital Wing with McGonagall at his heels. "How are you feeling?" asked Dumbledore.

"If one more person asks me that, I'm going to throw Cati out the window," said Cadance.

"Tempting," said McGonagall.

"Alright, so let's get to the point," said Cadance as Melinda walked in rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Hi, pumpkin."

"Mom, why is Aunt Cati in bed with you?" Melinda asked.

"Because life is funny, and so is your Aunt Cati," answered Cadance. Melinda shrugged then gave her mother a hug.

"So we were getting to the point?" asked Cati.

"When can I get out of here?" asked Cadance.

"Well, I can't force you to stay," said Madame Pomfrey. "But you need to take it easy."

"Great. Well, I'm going back to work," said Cadance.

"Hold on," said McGonagall. "I've been thinking about this and I decided that you need to take the rest of the term off. Go on vacation or something. You and Charlie both. You can come back to work after Christmas."

"I can't do that," said Cadance. "There's a whole month left in the term."

"Take her offer, Cadance," said Dumbledore. "We'll get someone to cover your classes."

Cadance looked at Charlie. He raised his eyebrows hopefully. Cadance chuckled. "Alright. Let's do it."

"Can I come?" asked Melinda.

"No," said Cadance. "You, young lady, are going to work your butt off and bring up your grades. And if you do that, I'll let your Aunt Cati take you to Disney World this summer."

"Really?" asked Melinda.

"Yes," said Cadance. "But only if you bring up your grades. We're not teaching you things for shits and giggles. _Learn it_. _Use it_. You'll thank me later."

"So when are we leaving?" asked Charlie.

"We'll have an Order meeting tonight," said Cadance. "We can leave tomorrow morning. But now, you'll have to excuse me. I've got a few loose ends to tie up at the Ministry." She slowly eased herself off the bed.

"What does that mean?" asked Charlie. Cadance leaned over and kissed his forehead. "No, really. What does it mean? What?"

Cadance picked up a fresh pair of robes that Madame Pomfrey had left for her on the chair and put them on over her clothes. "I'll see you all soon," she said as she walked out of the Hospital Wing.

"Should we be worried?" asked Melinda.

* * *

Cadance walked into Mills' office without knocking. "Cadance," said Mills with surprise.

"Peter," said Cadance. "We have to talk."

"I don't really have time…" began Mills. Cadance silenced him.

"I'm suing the Ministry," said Cadance.

Mills was taken aback. "What for?"

"Wages lost from Hogwarts caused by a vacation I need to take after the Auroring Department… and quite frankly, _you_… almost caused my death. And I want twice what my Auroring Fee should be for that little escapade. And I want an extra 1,000 galleons for pain and suffering and false arrest."

"What are you getting at?" asked Mills. "Your father-in-law…"

"It's a lot of money," interrupted Cadance.

"What are you trying to do?" asked Mills.

"You know I'd win my case, too," said Cadance. "All I'd have to do is bring up how I was viciously tossed into a cold, dark cell after suffering from a near-fatal stab wound."

"_What_, Cadance?" asked Mills.

"I want to be let out of my Auroring contract," said Cadance. Mills was struck speechless. Cadance continued. "If you don't, I will sue. Your name with be dragged through the mud. And I won't stop until you've lost _everything_."

"You can't be serious," said Mills.

"I assure you, I am _very_ serious," said Cadance.

"That's _really_ responsible," said Mills. "First, there's a Dark Lord running about and we're short good Aurors and _you_ want to leave. And now you're using blackmail to do it."

"I don't like the way you run the department," said Cadance. "I am not going to work under you."

"I can't believe you're doing this," said Mills.

"I won't work under you," said Cadance.

"We need you," said Mills.

"Then why did you arrest me?" asked Cadance. "Why did you toss me, unconscious, into Azkaban? Why did you fight my husband when he tried to get you to release me? Why did I almost die in Azkaban?"

"I'm sorry," said Mills. "I needed to prove to you that I still had the upper-hand over you. I'm sorry, okay? So that's it? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"What I want is to be let out of my contract," said Cadance. "I'm not an Auror anymore. I haven't been for a long time."

"You asked to come back," said Mills. "You can't just quit when things get tough."

"I can," said Cadance. "And you're lucky my family learned long ago not to listen to me or else you'd be losing Cati, Harry, Ginny, Jen, Ron, Hermione, Sirius, and Remus as well. While we're on the subject, you better pray to whatever you believe in that none of them get hurt. If I find out it was because of bad judgment on your part, I will make your life a living _hell_."

"I'm not letting you out of your contract," said Mills.

"Then I guess I'll see you in court," said Cadance. She turned to walk out.

"Wait," said Mills. She stopped and they stared each other down for a few moments. "Okay. Consider yourself free from the Auroring Department."

"Consider yourself free of me," said Cadance. "And remember what I said about my family. I will _kill_ you if they get hurt."

"Is that a threat?" asked Mills.

"That's a promise," said Cadance.

* * *

"Abigail, I saw her this morning," said McGonagall as a few Order Members sat in the Order meeting room while the rest of the castle was at lunch. "She's fine."

"I know that," said Abigail. "I just wish she was talking to me."

"I think she's making up for all the arguments from her teenage years that we would have had," said Scott.

"Cati was happy to see us when we first got here," said Faith. "But now she's distant and moody when David and I are around."

"Our daughters are weird," declared David.

"Jen's not," said Abigail. "She's been happy about having us around since we came back."

"Well, go talk to them," said Sirius. "It's not going to help just sitting here complaining about it."

"I hardly ever say this but Sirius is right," said McGonagall.

"Jen and Cati are in Cati's office," said Merlin. "And Cadance will be there in approximately two minutes."

McGonagall turned to him. "You know that? You know a lot of things. What's going to happen next?"

"Nobody really _knows_. That's why it's called _predicting_," said Merlin. "Some things are certain. But for the most part, the future is always changing. The few who truly possess the gift of foresight are either haunted by the future or are smart enough to ignore their inclinations."

Cadance walked into Cati's office. Jen was sitting in one of the two chairs in front of Cati's desk. Cati was sitting on her desk. Both had glasses in hand.

"You're lucky I wasn't Minerva," said Cadance sitting in the chair next to Jen. "She would kill you if she caught you drinking on the job."

"Sometimes you just need a stiff one," said Cati shrugging. "Do you want some?"

"No, I'm good," said Cadance.

Just then the door opened and Abigail, Scott, Faith and David walked in. "Girls can we talk?" asked David.

"How many smart-ass comments can we come up with in response to that question?" asked Cadance to Jen and Cati.

"I can think of three right away," said Cati.

"Alright, girls, that's enough," said David.

"Hey, you can't talk to us like that anymore," said Cati indignantly.

"We have been sensing… less-than-enthusiastic responses to us as of late," said Abigail.

"Oh really?" asked Cadance. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Cadance, I've had enough of your mouth for one day," said Abigail.

"Great, can I go then?" asked Cadance.

"No," said all four parents simultaneously.

"We have to talk," said Faith.

"Alright, I don't have time for this," said Cadance. "You want to know why I'm not jumping for joy at the presence of my estranged parents? It's because I asked you not to go and you went anyway. You abandoned me. Well, I got on for all those years without you. I don't need you now."

"Alright, well, _I _am glad you're here," said Jen. "It's like having a second chance."

"I'm glad you're here," said Cati. "But its weird having you here. Sometimes I don't know how to act."

"Girls, we love you very much," said Scott.

"I feel like I don't know you," said Cadance.

"Honey," said Abigail. "We didn't mean for things to turn out this way."

"I missed you," said Cadance. "But it hurt too much. So I got mad at you instead."

"That's okay," said Abigail.

"I never stopped missing you two," said Cati to her mother and father.

"I just want to leave," said Cadance shaking her head and looking towards the door.

"No," said Scott. He grabbed Cadance and pulled her into a hug.

Cadance struggled against him. "Let me go!" she exclaimed.

"No, Cadance. Because you need to know we love you," said Scott.

"Mom, has Dad gone crazy?" asked Jen moving to stand next to her.

Cadance stopped struggling and took a deep breath. Cati walked over and hugged her parents and Abigail put an arm around Jen. Cadance began to cry. She wrapped her arms around her dad and then hugged her mom.

"Why is this so hard?" asked Cadance.

"Because you're grown," said Abigail. "My girls are grown and I missed it. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," said Cadance. "I never believed it was. I just said that to myself because it hurt less."

"Oh my God!" exclaimed Cati.

They all looked over at her, but she was looking at her parents. They were slowly becoming transparent. Cadance and Jen turned back to their parents and the same thing was happening to them.

"We all came back for a purpose," said Faith. "It seems like we've fulfilled ours. The spell is sending us back."

"We love you," said Abigail before all four of them disappeared in a swirl of lights.

Cadance, Jen, and Cati stood still for a few seconds then Cadance wiped the tears from her eyes. "Cati, I think I will have that drink," she said.

"What about Uncle Albus and Merlin and the founders? Are they gone?" asked Jen.

"No," said Cadance as Cati handed her a glass. "Our parents only came back for closure. We all got it. Uncle Albus and the rest… they came back to help. And we still need that."

"I can't believe they're gone," said Jen.

"I hated them for so long," said Cadance. "I don't know how to react now."

"We can finally move on," said Cati.

"I quit my Auroring job today," said Cadance.

"What!" exclaimed Cati and Jen at the same time.

"I went to Mills and got out of my contract. After what happened, I won't work for him," said Cadance. "I don't want to talk about it."

"You don't look good," said Cati. "Maybe you should go lie down. You're not healthy yet."

"I'm fine," said Cadance. "I'm going to go find Charlie."

"I'll tell Minerva what happened," said Jen.

As Jen and Cadance left, Cati sat down behind her desk and filled her glass full of bourbon. She drank it all in one gulp and then put the bottle in a drawer in her desk.

* * *

Cadance walked into her and Charlie's Common Room. He was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper. He looked up at her as she entered. "What's the matter?" asked Charlie as worry filled every feature on his face.

Cadance sat next to him. He slipped his arm around her. Cadance recounted the story of what happened. "It's weird," she said when she was finished. "I spent so much time being angry at them and right when I start to get over it, they're gone."

"Yeah," said Charlie, because he couldn't think of anything else.

"You know what else?" asked Cadance. "I'm still kind of mad at them. They were gone for most of my life and then they expect me to just suddenly be happy when a spell I cast brings them back? I've had 30 years to adjust to not having them around. I don't need them. I bought my first wand without them. I went through Hogwarts without them. I got into Auror Training, had sex for the first time, got married, even raised a kid… all without them!"

"Cadance," said Charlie. He ran his fingers through her hair. "Calm down."

"I can't," said Cadance. "I'm just so frustrated."

"You can't let it get to you," said Charlie. "You heard Poppy. You need to take it easy."

"I quit the Force," said Cadance.

"Excuse me?" asked Charlie.

"I got out of my Auroring contract," said Cadance.

"Is that what you want?" asked Charlie.

Cadance paused. "I don't want to work under Mills," she said.

"Why?" asked Charlie.

"Because…" said Cadance. "I'm scared."

"Me too," said Charlie. He kissed the top of her head. "Me too."

* * *

Cadance and Charlie left after breakfast the next morning, but not before Pomfrey could lecture Cadance about her current condition. After escaping, Cadance and Charlie apparated to the Caribbean for a month of rest and relaxation. They were scheduled to come back after the New Year. Christmas approached quickly. Almost everyone went home for the Holidays. Chris and Wyatt reluctantly left Melinda, who became the oldest person left in Gryffindor Tower. Only her cousins, Molly and James, remained with her. The two tried to cheer up their lonely older cousin, but to no avail.

Christmas Eve started out as uneventful for the three Gryffindors. They went outside to have a snowball fight in the fresh-fallen snow. When it began to get dark, they came inside and sat in front of the fireplace.

"It's quiet," said James. "I don't think anyone else is even here. Not any students, I mean."

"I saw two Hufflepuffs in the library earlier," said Molly.

"There are five Slytherins, too," said Melinda.

"Guess what," said James.

"What?" asked Melinda and Molly.

"Uncle Sirius gave me the coolest thing today," said James. "He said he swiped it from Dad."

"What is it?" asked Molly.

"It's a map," said James. "Of Hogwarts."

"A map of Hogwarts?" asked Melinda. "James, if you don't know you're way around Hogwarts by now…"

"No, Melinda," interrupted James. "Watch." He pulled parchment out of his pocket along with his wand. He tapped the parchment. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good!" Suddenly, starting from the tip of his wand, black lines began to crawl all over the parchment forming the various rooms and passageways of Hogwarts, including hidden passages out of the school.

"Oh my," said Molly as the two girls stared at it in amazement. "You can see where people are and everything!"

"Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs," said Melinda thoughtfully as she read the top of the paper. "James, what all did Sirius tell you about this map?"

"Just that it was in my dad's drawer because he had used it when he was at school and Sirius was waiting for the right moment to swipe it and give it to me. And he showed me how to use it," said James.

"Look," said Melinda. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. Who are they?"

"They made the map," said James. "What does it matter?"

"Well, how do you know they're not evil?" said Molly.

"Sirius gave it to him," said Melinda. "He wouldn't give him something that would hurt him. And if Uncle Harry used it at school… well, it can't be dangerous or evil. I think it's okay, Molly."

"Still, James, you should be careful with it," said Molly. "Even if it's not evil, imagine how much damage it could do in the hands of a Death Eater." She gazed down at the map. There were very few dots on it, since there weren't many people in the castle. Suddenly, something in the corner caught her eye. Coming up the stairs, and towards the Gryffindor Common Room, were two dots. One was labeled 'Cadance Weasley' and the other 'Charlie Weasley'. "Look, Melinda!"

"My mom and dad?" asked Melinda looking confused. Then her face lit up. "They must be back early! James, put the map away. I doubt my mom would approve."

"Mischief managed," said James tapping the map with his wand. He folded it up and put it back in his pocket. No sooner had he done this than the Portrait Hole opened and Cadance and Charlie walked in.

"Mom! Dad!" exclaimed Melinda. "You're early!"

"Well, we felt like we were away from home for too long," said Cadance, who still looked tired and pale. She also looked like she had lost some weight. Melinda went over to hug her parents. "Well, how are things here? Molly? James? Alright?" she asked. They nodded.

"Good," said Charlie. "We're glad to be home."

"I have to go see Professor McGonagall now," said Cadance. "She doesn't know we're back yet." She kissed the top of Melinda's head and smiled at her niece and nephew.

"You go ahead, dear," said Charlie. "I'll meet you there soon." He watched as she walked out of the Common Room.

"Dad," said Melinda as soon as she had gone. "How is she?"

"Better than she was," said Charlie. "But still not great. She can't sleep. We had to come back early because she's been feeling off the past three days."

"She still doesn't look all that healthy," said Molly.

Uncle Charlie," said James. "Has Aunt Cadance eaten anything all month?"

"Yeah, dad," said Melinda. "I was going to say something about that. She looks like she's wasting away a little."

"Well, that poison isn't completely out of her system yet," said Charlie. "It makes her sick. She hasn't had much of an appetite and when she _does_ eat she usually has to throw up after. It's actually been better lately. She couldn't keep breakfast down this morning, but dinner last night was okay and we just ate lunch about two hours ago because of the time difference and she's kept it down so far." Charlie sighed. "Why don't you three try to get some cookies and hot chocolate from the House Elves? It's getting late. If they give you any trouble, tell them I said it was okay."

"Okay, Dad," said Melinda. Charlie kissed her forehead before heading out of the Common Room and heading towards McGonagall's office. He said the password and the stone gargoyle sprang aside. Charlie walked up the stairs and entered McGonagall's office.

McGonagall was sitting behind her desk. She was holding her glasses in one hand and rubbing her eyes with the other. "Cadance isn't here," she said. "You just missed her."

"Where is she?" asked Charlie.

"I sent her to bed," said McGonagall. "She still looks awful."

"I know," said Charlie. "She can't sleep. She can't eat. But slowly, it's getting better."

"Make sure she knows her limitations," said McGonagall. "No demon-fighting for a while. And she must keep the use of her Sorceress Powers to a minimum. Thank God she's not an Auror anymore."

"How have things been here?" asked Charlie.

"Uneventful," said McGonagall. "It's a shame it won't last."

"No," said Charlie. "I suppose it won't."

* * *

Charlie entered his bedroom. The lights were off and Cadance was already in bed. "Cadance?" he asked softly. "Are you asleep?"

"No," Cadance's voice said through the darkness. Charlie walked over to the bed and climbed in it. He pulled Cadance close to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked, though he knew the answer. The answer had been the same every night for the past month.

"I can hear his voice in my head," said Cadance. "It's fainter now than it was in the beginning. But I can still hear it."

"He's trying to mess with you," said Charlie. "Don't let him."

"I'm too tired," said Cadance. "But I can't sleep."

"Try to fall asleep," said Charlie. "I'll stay up and keep an eye on you."

"But aren't you tired?" asked Cadance.

"No, I'm still on Caribbean time. It's only the afternoon there," said Charlie. "You haven't slept well these past few nights. Sleep now."

"I love you, Charlie," said Cadance as her eyes began to close.

"I love you, too."

**The end! Please review!**


	13. Time Jumping is Awesome

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's.**

**A/N: aliasfreak477, if you're reading this, I just wanted to let you know that your reviews made me laugh! Thanks!**

Slowly, Cadance regained her strength. She was able to keep food down, but was still unable to sleep through the night and was still thin by the time classes started up again.

And now, our handy little pal TJ the time jump comes into play.

A little over four years passed. The list of dead grew, but nothing hit close to the home of our beloved characters. After graduating from Hogwarts, Melinda and Chris joined the Aurors. Wyatt, a year old, was already out of Auror training. The three founders, Dumbledore, and Merlin remained. Sirius still never proposed to Wendy.

It was summer. At one time, summer had meant Godric's Hollow, picnics, Quidditch matches, and lazy evenings; but not since Voldemort's return. Cadance, Charlie, Bill, and Cati remained at Hogwarts. Vivien was just about to start her first year there. Melinda, having just graduated, was moving into a flat in London with Chris and Wyatt. It was under these conditions that Cadance and Charlie allowed her to leave the safety of Hogwarts. They were (Cadance in particularly) highly overprotective of Melinda, but they figured that if she was going to move out of Hogwarts she would be best off with Wyatt and Chris, who were very talented Wizards, had powers inherited from their Charmed family, and could help Melinda vanquish any demons that came along.

Jen usually brought Abby, now 8, and Fred, now 4, to Hogwarts during the day since George worked at his joke shop in Hogsmeade. If not at Hogwarts, she was at Harry and Ginny's or Ron and Hermione's house. There was always safety in numbers. She wouldn't stay home alone with her children unless George was there as well.

One day, about a month after school let out, Cadance was in her office writing letters to the Ministry in response to their latest request to have her rejoin the Aurors, when she heard a knock on the door. "If you're from the Auror Department, go away!" she called.

"Alright, geez!" exclaimed the familiar voice outside the door.

"Melinda!" exclaimed Cadance.

Melinda's head peaked in the door. "Hi, mum," she said. She came in and shut the door behind her.

"How is training?" asked Cadance as Melinda took a seat.

"Eh, it's okay," said Melinda. "I just started so it's hard to tell."

"How are Wyatt and Chris?" asked Cadance.

"They're good," said Melinda. "I… uh… well, Chris and I got jobs until we get out of Auror training."

"Well, that's good," said Cadance. "But you know your father and I would be happy to pay your part of the rent until you get out of training…"

"I know, mom," said Melinda. "But it's something I wanted to do, you know?"

Cadance chuckled and got a faraway look in here eyes. "I know _exactly_ how you feel," said Cadance. "Your Aunt Cati and I did the exact same thing. But your flat is nice. Cati's and mine was a _dive_. And it wasn't because we couldn't afford better. We _liked_ our crappy flat. So where did you get a job?"

"Oh, well," said Melinda turning to look out the window. "You know… that place."

"What place?" asked Cadance, trying to figure out what she was looking at.

"Uhh… Tipsy's Tavern," said Melinda.

"What!" exclaimed Cadance as her head snapped to look at her daughter.

"Now, mom, don't overreact," said Melinda.

"Oh, you think I'm _overreacting_!" exclaimed Cadance. "You think _this_ is overreacting! Honey, you haven't _seen_ overreacting yet! I don't _want_ you working in a demon bar! I'm absolutely going to _kill_ Kala for giving you guys that job!"

"Mom, it's not Kala's fault! We asked her for the job!" exclaimed Melinda. "And it's not _just_ a demon bar. Witches and Wizards go there, too!"

"Melinda! That's not the point! I don't want you working around all those demons!"

"Oh, mom, take a pill," said Melinda as Cati bounced in. She was wearing her Auror uniform and had her hair, which had grown longer again and was pulled back in a disordered ponytail. She was a mess.

"Why is Cadance in need of a pill?" asked Cati, closing the door behind her.

Cadance looked Cati up and down. "Were you on duty _last night_?" asked Cadance.

"Yeah," said Cati. "I got called in to three separate Death Eater attacks last night."

"You're just getting back now? It's almost noon!" said Cadance.

"Well, I got grazed by spell," said Cati, raising her arm and turning a little to reveal a hole in her Auror robes. They could see a bandage through the hole. "I had to go to St. Mungo's to get cleaned up. By the way, does anyone know if Bill picked Vivien up from Ginny and Harry's house yet? She spent the night there last night."

"See that, Melinda. _Three_ Death Eater battles in one night. St. Mungo's. Isn't that nice?" asked Cadance.

"Mom, that's a whole other issue," said Melinda. "And I thought we decided to drop that."

"Oh, Cadance, you _do_ need to take a pill," said Cati. "What's going on anyway?"

"I took a job at Tipsy's Tavern for while I'm in training," said Melinda.

"Oh, Melinda, you'll have a blast working there!" exclaimed Cati. "Your mom and I did!"

Melinda's head snapped to look at her mother. "Mom?" she said with surprise. "You and Aunt Cati did?"

Cadance looked as if she was about to kill her best friend. "Yeah!" exclaimed Cati. "Cadance and I worked at Tipsy's Tavern for about 9 months."

"Oh, really?" asked Melinda, cocking an eyebrow at her mother.

"So, I know how dangerous it is!" argued Cadance.

"What dangerous?" asked Cati, not putting together the most grammatically correct sentence. "Now, Death Eaters are dangerous. Voldemort… he's dangerous. Asking my Uncle Severus to make a love potion….dangerous. Minerva on a bad day…. dangerous. Working at Kala's bar is _nothing_."

"_Honestly_, mother," said Melinda angrily. "I can't believe you!"

"Oh, alright, don't get your Auror training robes in a bunch," said Cadance. "I'm just looking out for you."

"Well, stop it. I'm 18," said Melinda.

"I'm never going to stop it. I'm your mother," said Cadance.

"Well, I'm your fun aunt," said Cati as Jen entered with young Fred (now 4-years-old) on her back and Abby (now 8-years-old) holding her hand.

"I thought I was the fun aunt," said Jen.

"Actually," said Melinda. "Kala's the fun aunt."

"That doesn't count," said Cati. "She's not your _real_ aunt."

"Oh, well, then you two are tied," said Melinda.

"Oh, that's sweet," said Jen putting Fred down. "So what are we up to today?"

"_We_ are up to nothing," said Cadance, putting her signature on her letter and taking her glasses off (half-moon, exactly like her uncle's) and pocketing them.

"Who in heaven's name did you write such a lengthy letter to?" asked Jen, picking it up off her desk. She read the front of the parchment and snorted. Then she flipped it over. "Oh, Cadance, as the Minister's daughter-in-law, I don't think you can say some of these things about the Auror department."

Cati snatched the letter out of her hand and skimmed it. "Cadance!" exclaimed Cati. "I'm offended!"

"Let me see that," said Melinda attempting to get it from Cati.

Cati held it out of her reach. "You're only in Auror Training; you'll be emotionally scarred by the contents of this letter," she said. "I know I am, and I've been an Auror for about five years now!"

"It'll be twenty-six years in September," said Cadance.

"Alright, well, technically we passed our _tests_ twenty-six years ago this September," said Cati. "But factoring in the hiatus I took run around the world and then return to Hogwarts and teach before going back part-time… it's more like 13 or 14 years. But I say five to make myself feel younger. Thank you for ruining the illusion, your grumpiness."

"Forty-four is hardly _old_," said Cadance. "We don't look a day over 30. Just look at Sirius and Remus. They're getting close to 60 but they look 45! And they don't act older than... like… four. And don't even get me started on _Minerva_! She's almost 75! And she can still kick our asses! I love being a witch! We've got _quite_ a few years before we have to start lying about our ages to make ourselves feel younger."

"You can talk for that long about something as little as people's ages, but you _won't _join the Aurors again?" asked Cati.

Cadance paused and looked at her strangely. "How are the two things related!" she exclaimed with frustration.

"They're… not," said Cati, admitting defeat. "Shutup."

"You two fight like a married couple," said Melinda shaking her head.

"We do not!" exclaimed Cadance. "Your father and I never fight like this."

Cati was about to make a smart comment when there was a knock at the door. "Come in!" called Melinda. The door opened and Ginny and Hermione walked in with Molly and James (now almost 16-years-old), Vivien (now 11-years-old) and Joseph (now 4-years-old).

"Ah, there is my child," said Cati winking at Vivien.

"Hi!" said Hermione cheerfully.

"Hey, guys," said Cadance, smiling. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, Harry and Ron were trying very hard to get some work down in our house before they had to go on duty at 2:00," answered Ginny. "But it was awfully hard with the rowdy children at home."

"Honestly, mother, I would hardly call us _rowdy_," said James exasperatedly.

"You were playing Quidditch in the living room, James," said Ginny emphatically.

"Right," said Hermione. "Well, we were just going to take all the children down the street to _our_ house, but we figured it'd be more entertaining here."

"Quite understandable," said Cadance. "But the question is, what are we going to do with ourselves before dinner?"

"I've got an idea," said Cati grinning mischievously.

"Uh oh. Not good," said Molly.

"I don't think I want to stick around for this," said Melinda. "I'll see you all later."

"Are you sure, Melinda?" asked Cati. "It's going to be fun." She winked at her.

"I've got to get back to my flat anyway," said Melinda.

"Why?" asked Ginny.

"Because…" said Melinda trying to think up an excuse. "Because… I'm afraid of whatever made Aunt Cati smile like that. Goodbye." She walked out of the classroom and headed down the hallway.

Just as she turned a corner, she was grabbed from behind. She tried to scream but someone slipped a hand over her mouth.

"Shhhhh. It's me." The hand left her mouth and she turned around to see her semi-attacker.

"Chris," she said breathing a sigh of relief. "What…?"

She was cut off very abruptly as Chris pinned her to the wall and kissed her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he rested his hands on her hips. Suddenly, Melinda pulled away and placed her fingertips on Chris's lips. "Wait, Chris. No," she said softly. "I told you already that we couldn't do this."

"And _I_ told _you_ that we could," said Chris. "What is it that you're afraid of, Melinda? Your family already likes me. They wouldn't mind that we were dating."

"That's not it, Chris," said Melinda, not looking him in the eye. "We're Aurors. Or at least we're going to be. We could get _killed_. Getting involved with someone… it's too hard. It would _kill_ me if I lost you. And it would only hurt more if we were together."

"It's going to hurt if we're _not_ together," said Chris.

"Chris, please," she whispered. "It's too hard."

Chris dropped his head. "Okay," he said. "But just so you know… _this_ is hard."

Melinda wrapped her arms around him. He slipped one hand around her waist and put one hand on the back of her head. "Let's go home," said Melinda.

Back in Cadance's office…..

"Right foot blue!" exclaimed Cati as James, Cadance, Vivien, and Hermione all tried to balance with their right hand on green and their left foot on yellow. James tried to put his right foot on blue, but ended up falling over, bringing Vivien with him. Hermione and Cadance stayed upright.

"James!" admonished Vivien, as James helped her to get out from the tangle of bodies without disrupting Hermione or Cadance. Suddenly they heard a strange cry and Fawkes the Phoenix appeared perched on one of the desks in a burst of flames.

Cadance yelped and went down. "Yes! I am the winner!" exclaimed Hermione. Cadance pushed her arm, causing her to fall over as well. "I _still _win!" Cadance crawled out from under Hermione and walked towards Fawkes. Fawkes flew off the desk and settled on Cadance's shoulder and emitted a low cry.

"What is it, Fawkes?" asked Cadance. Fawkes began to make strange noises. A look of worry crossed Cadance's face. "You're sure?" More strange bird noises. Cadance grabbed a piece of parchment from her desk and hastily wrote two words on it. She folded it up and put it in Fawkes's beak. "Listen, Fawkes. Take this to Minerva in her office and then go find my uncle. Tell him what happened." Fawkes was gone in a burst of flames. "Molly, I want you to take the younger ones and find Lord Gryffindor, Lady Hufflepuff, and Lady Ravenclaw. Try the Great Hall. They're usually in there at this time. Send them to Godric's Hollow. I want you to sit tight in the faculty room when you're done. James, I want you to run to Cati's and my Common Room and get Bill and Charlie and then run down to Hogsmeade and get George and send _them _all to Godric's Hollow. And then go the faculty room with your cousins." Everyone just stared at her. "What are you just standing there for! MOVE!" She ushered Molly, James, Vivien, Abby, Joseph, and Fred in front of her. Cati, Hermione, Ginny, and Jen all exchanged confused looks. Cadance poked her head back in the classroom. "YOU HEARD THE BIRD! LET'S GO!"

"I don't speak Phoenix," said Cati testily.

"Death Eaters! Godric's Hollow!" exclaimed Cadance. She turned to sprint down the hallway. Cati, Hermione, Ginny, and Jen were all close behind her. They bolted down the hallway, out the front doors, and across the lawn. As soon as they were out of the grounds, they turned on their heels and Apparated into the middle of Godric's Hollow.

It didn't take long for them to figure out where the Death Eaters had struck. Smoke was pouring out from Sirius's house and Ron and Harry were standing outside of it trying to put the fire out. The Dark Mark was above the house. "Oh my God!" exclaimed Jen. "SIRIUS! WENDY!"

Harry heard her and glanced behind him as the four witches ran towards him. "Harry, what happened!" exclaimed Cadance as they all joined him in trying to put out the fire.

Harry spoke very quickly. "We were inside my dining room working when we heard a loud _bang_. We ran outside and we saw the Dark Mark above Sirius's house and we were about to run in when we saw three Death Eaters run out into the front yard. We tried to curse them, but they said a spell we never heard of before and the next thing we knew they were gone and the house was on fire."

Cadance suddenly became aware of Professor McGonagall at her elbow. "Sweet Merlin," she whispered, staring at the house. "Wendy and Sirius…?"

"We don't know," said Harry shaking his head. "This isn't helping, damnit!"

"Did someone alert the Ministry?" asked Jen.

"Go," said Cadance. "Hurry." With a swish of her robes, Jen disappeared. A few seconds later, there were a few light _pops_ as Bill, Charlie, George, Dumbledore, Merlin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw all Apparated in.

"I'm going in," said Harry, taking off his Auroring robes and rolling up the sleeves of his white dress-shirt that was standard-wear underneath all Auroring Robes. He sprinted towards the house.

"Harry!" exclaimed Ginny.

"What's he doing?" asked Hermione.

Right before he could reach the house, there was a crunching sound and the roof caved in. Sparks showered down from the house. Harry stopped and threw his arms up to cover his face.

"Get your ASS back here, Potter!" exclaimed Cati.

Suddenly they all heard a cry from behind them. They turned around to see Wendy standing there, staring at the house, grocery bags in hand. She dropped the bags and took a few slow steps towards the house as Harry urgently asked, "Wendy, where is Sirius?"

She pointed a shaky finger at the house. "He was in the kitchen," whispered Wendy. Suddenly, she broke into a run towards the house. "SIRIUS!"

Harry grabbed her as she passed him. "Wendy, no!" he exclaimed. They both collapsed to their knees. Wendy was sobbing hysterically and Harry put his arms around her.

* * *

A few hours later, after the Aurors had shown up and helped to put out the fire, General Mills and another Auror approached Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Cati, Bill, Cadance, Charlie, Jen, George, McGonagall, the three founders, Dumbledore, and Merlin. Remus, who had appeared with the Aurors, had already taken Wendy back to the Hogwarts Hospital Wing because she would not calm down. 

"I'm afraid the house is in ruins," said Mills. "I've had Captain Benson here send a few Aurors in to look for the body. It must have been in one of the rooms in the west end of the house. That's where we've determined the fire was started. Everything is reduced to ashes there. And it makes sense that the Death Eaters would start the fire in the place where they left him…"

"Do you have anything more comforting to say, General?" asked Ginny. She had her hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry looked pale.

"I am supposed to ask in times such as these…"continued Mills, ignoring Ginny. "Does anyone here have any reason to believe that Captain Sirius Oscar Black is in any way alive?" Nobody said anything. Mills nodded at Captain Benson, who had his quill poised over a clipboard. "Then I declare Captain Black dead on this day at 3:02 PM."

* * *

Back at Hogwarts, Cadance, Charlie, Cati, and Bill all sat in their Common Room. Cati and Bill had moved permanently in about three years ago when it became evident that Dumbledore and Merlin would be around for a while and would therefore need to stay in Cati and Bill's rooms. Melinda and Vivien had shared the third bedroom up until Melinda moved out. 

Upon returning to Hogwarts, Cadance and Cati went to the Staff Room where Molly, James, Abby, Vivien, Joseph and Fred were obediently waiting. She broke the news to them, and then Cadance escorted Molly, James, Abby, Joseph and Fred home while Cati took Vivien back to their Common Room. She was now in her own bedroom.

Bill got up and walked over to the little-used kitchen. He came back with four glasses and a bottle of scotch. "I can't believe he's gone," he said putting the glasses and the scotch down on the coffee table.

"I wonder how Wendy is doing," said Charlie.

"I bet Remus is still with her," said Cadance. "He won't want to be alone either."

"Poor Wendy," said Cati. "She gave up being a White Lighter so she could be with him. He was all she had."

"Do you think she'll go back to San Francisco to Wyatt and Chris's parents and aunts?" asked Charlie. "That's where she was before she came back here to be with Sirius."

"I hope not," said Cati. "I hope she stays."

Cadance, turning down the glass that Bill was handing her, sighed. "We _had_ been fairly safe for a while. Now Godric's Hollow was attacked. One of us is dead. And all in _broad daylight_. This can't be a good sign."

* * *

"There has to be something we can do," said Wyatt as he paced the floor of his, Chris, and Melinda's flat in London. 

"Stop pacing, Wyatt," said Chris, who was sitting on the couch with Melinda. "There's nothing."

"I'm going to go tell Mom and Dad," said Wyatt. "You know how they feel about Wendy. They'll want to know about Sirius." He orbed out in a swirl of lights.

Chris and Melinda, left alone, sat in silence for a few minutes before Chris spoke up. "Melinda, I know what you're thinking," said Chris.

"What makes you think you know what I'm thinking?" asked Melinda.

"You're thinking that Sirius's death just proved the point you tried to make earlier today," said Chris.

"Odd…" said Melinda. "That _is_ exactly what I was thinking."

"You're wrong," said Chris. "It doesn't prove anything."

"Chris, you heard what Aunt Jen said about Wendy; about her having to be taken to the Hogwarts Hospital Wing! Look at what happened to her! She lost the only man she cares about," said Melinda. "That could be one of us."

"Whether we're together or not that could be one of us, Melinda," said Chris as he brushed a stray piece of hair out of her face. "I'm not going anywhere."

* * *

Three days later, a memorial service for Sirius was held by the lake at Hogwarts. Harry, Remus, Mr. Weasley, and Wendy all spoke. Afterwards, everyone went in to the Great Hall where a buffet lunch was set up. A table was set up along one wall with several pictures of Sirius on it. 

Cadance, Cati, Bill, and Charlie were standing in a little group, talking quietly when three women and a man about their age came up to them. "Piper. Leo. Phoebe. Paige," said Cadance managing a small smile.

"Hey, we haven't seen you guys since Chapter 5," said Cati.

"Well, I saw them when we helped Melinda and Chris and Wyatt move into their new flat," said Cadance.

"Well, yes, but that part wasn't in the story," said Cati.

"Oh, right. Yes, of course," said Cadance.

"What?" asked Bill in confusion.

Cadance and Cati exchanged a look and then Cati looked back at Piper, Leo, Phoebe, and Paige. "Hey, we haven't seen you guys since my wedding," said Cati, starting over.

"I'm glad you could come," said Cadance.

"Yes, well, Wyatt told us about it and we had to come," said Phoebe. "Where's Wendy?"

"Over there," said Charlie, pointing across the room to where Wendy was talking politely with an Auror.

"We're going to go see her," said Paige. She and Phoebe headed over towards her, while Piper hung back.

"How are my sons getting along with your daughter?" she asked Charlie and Cadance.

"They seem to be doing fine," said Cadance as they glanced over to where Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda were sitting in a small clump by themselves.

"We were afraid that Melinda would go crazy living with the boys," said Leo.

"No, on the contrary, they seem to have grown closer," said Charlie.

"If that's even possible," said Cadance.

"Good," said Piper. "Well, we're going to see Wendy. We'll come say goodbye before we leave."

Cadance nodded. Piper gave her arm a gentle squeeze before she and Leo walked away. "I'll be right back, you guys," said Cadance.

"Where are you going?" asked Charlie.

Cadance nodded over to the table with Sirius's pictures on it where Remus was standing alone. She walked up next to him and put her hand on his back. He jumped a little.

"Oh, Cadance," he said.

"How are you holding up?" she asked.

"How _should_ I be holding up?" he asked. He paused. "I'm actually a little jealous; where he is, there's no more pain." He looked around him. "All this black… Sirius wouldn't have liked it. He would have wanted Gryffindor colors."

"That hardly seems appropriate," said Cadance.

"He wouldn't have cared," said Remus.

"Are you okay, Remus?" asked Cadance. "I'm worried about you."

"I just lost my best friend, Cadance," said Remus. "Imagine if you lost Cati. That's what it's like. Except you still have Charlie and Bill and Kala. I've lost James and Sirius. And Peter, too."

Cadance went to put her hand on his shoulder but he shrugged it off and walked away. Cadance sighed as Charlie walked up to her. He put his arm around her waist and kissed the top of her head. "All right, Love?" he asked.

"Once I thought he was gone," said Cadance. "He was in Azkaban. That was that. But then I went to visit him and I found out that what everyone thought happened didn't really happen. And suddenly he wasn't gone anymore. And then he escaped. But now he's dead."

"What in the name of Merlin are you rambling about?" asked Charlie.

"I don't know," sighed Cadance. "Forget about it." She looked back at the pictures of Sirius and sighed again. "Oh, Padfoot."

"What did you say, Mom?" asked a voice from behind her and Charlie. They turned around and saw Melinda was standing behind them.

"Nothing, dear," said Cadance.

"You said 'Padfoot'," said Melinda.

"Yeah… well…" said Cadance distractedly. "It's just an old nickname."

"Whose?" asked Melinda with interest. Before Cadance could respond, Pete Mills walked up to the three Weasleys.

"Charlie. Cadance. Melinda," he said, acknowledging each one in turn.

"Is there something I can do for you, General?" asked Cadance stepping forward, her face completely neutral.

"I was wondering if I might have a word…"

Cadance cut him off. "Shove it up your ass, Mills, I'm not coming back," she said.

"No," said Mills quickly. "You didn't let me finish. I was hoping to talk to young Melinda here."

Melinda nodded and quickly fell into step behind Mills as he walked away before Cadance could object. Cadance and Charlie walked back to Cati and Bill and stood there for a few seconds before Abby walked up to them. "Auntie Cadance," she said. "Uncle Albus wants to see you right outside."

"Alright, thanks, sweetie," said Cadance. "I'll be right back you guys." She headed towards the doors of the Great Hall and slipped out. Her uncle was standing right outside waiting for her. "Way to use an 8-year-old to run messages for you," said Cadance.

"We have to talk," said Dumbledore ushering her down the hallway to the first empty classroom they found. He closed the door behind them.

"What is it?" asked Cadance.

"This death has hit rather close to home," said Dumbledore. "I feel like there is more we should be doing."

"Like what?" asked Cadance.

"Well, the Order of the Phoenix has been rather low-key for about a year or so now," said Dumbledore.

"Are you trying to say that we caused Sirius's death through a lack of community involvement?" snapped Cadance.

"Watch your tone of voice with me, young lady," said Dumbledore calmly. "And listen to the advice I'm about to give you. Put Order members on duty in Godric's Hollow at all times; two people during the day, and three at night. Also, ask General Mills to station some Aurors in Hogsmeade the way that Bob Reynolds did during the last war."

Cadance sighed, and looked out the window. "Alright," she answered. She turned and looked back at her uncle. "If you were in charge, you would have done that a long time ago, wouldn't you? Sirius probably wouldn't be dead now."

"Sirius was killed in broad daylight," answered Dumbledore. "Even I wouldn't have anticipated that. I probably would have thought to station people at Godric's Hollow at night, but not during the day. _Nobody_ could have foreseen this."

"But we should have," said Cadance. "We should have protected him." She turned around to leave.

"Cadance, one more thing," said Dumbledore. Cadance turned back around to face him. "The Order should be expanding. Melinda, Wyatt, and Chris…"

"No," said Cadance, cutting him off. "They are _too young_."

"Hardly," said Dumbledore. "We allowed Harry, Ron, Hermione, Jen, and Ginny to join when they were still in school."

"That was a temporary thing for the final battle," responded Cadance.

"They're old enough, Cadance," said Dumbledore.

"No," said Cadance with finality. "Imagine for a moment that you had a daughter, and all you wanted was to protect her. Would you let her join the Order?"

"Imagine for a moment that your brother had a granddaughter," said Dumbledore. "And you loved her as if she were your own. And all you wanted to do was protect her. Would you let her join the Order? You should, because _I did_. And you weren't much older than Melinda is now."

Cadance paused, touched by his words, then continued, "But I _was_ older. And it's different. I've sheltered Melinda's life a lot more than you sheltered mine."

"Why?" asked Dumbledore.

"Because I make a more paranoid parent I guess," said Cadance. "Uncle Albus, I was _ready_ when I joined. I had been vanquishing demons _on my own_ since I was about 11. I went through Auror training. I'd gone on _missions_. There is a difference between Melinda and myself."

"I think you're wrong," said Dumbledore. "And I think that you wouldn't have brought me back if you weren't going to take my advice."

"I brought you back _four years ago_," said Cadance. "If I had known that saying that spell would cause us to acquire some long-term house guests…"

"Watch it, Cadance," said Dumbledore.

"I was only kidding," laughed Cadance.

"Just think about what I said," said Dumbledore, opening the door and letting her go out first.

"What'd you say?" came Melinda's voice from outside the door. She was walking down the hallway to them.

"Nothing," said Cadance hurriedly. "What did Mills want?"

"To talk to me about something," said Melinda as the three started walking down the hallway to the Great Hall.

"Obviously," said Cadance. "But what?"

"Just this mission-thing," said Melinda.

Cadance stopped. "What?" she asked flabbergasted.

Melinda and Dumbledore stopped, too. "Yeah, it's no big deal, Mom," said Melinda.

"But you're not even out of Auroring Training yet," said Cadance as they started walking again.

"I know," said Melinda. "But the mission won't even be until after my training is done, and besides he'd need to know soon because I'd have to add some extra training for the mission."

"And what did you tell him?" asked Cadance. "You told him no, right?"

"I told him I'd think about it," said Melinda. No response from her mother. "Mom?" Still nothing. "Come on, Mom, don't do this. Uncle Albus? A little help here?"

"Sorry, Melinda," said Albus. "Your mother is set in her ways."

"Shut up, Uncle Albus," said Cadance. "Melinda, I don't _want_ you to go on the mission."

"Mom, _come on_," said Melinda. "There's nothing really keeping me here."

Cadance froze again, her own words from long ago echoing in her ears.

**_

* * *

Flashback _**

Cadance heaved a sigh and sat on the desk. "You're planning on going aren't you?" asked Charlie. He put one hand on her shoulder and cupped the other one under Cadance's chin, making her look at him.

"You'll look after my uncle and Jen for me, won't you?" she asked.

"Cadance, please, rethink your decision," said Charlie. "My father gave you 24 hours. Please use all of them to think about it."

"Charlie, there is nothing really keeping me here," said Cadance.

Charlie looked deep into her eyes. Then he pulled her close and kissed her. When they finally broke away, Cadance said, "Wow. Talk about famous last words."

"You know, if this were a really cheesey fanfiction that someone posts on the internet for shits and giggles then Sirius would walk in right now," said Charlie.

And since this is a fanfiction Sirius walked in right at that moment. But since he had no reason to be there he left to contemplate why he had gone there in the first place, not realizing the power of the fanfiction author.

Charlie leaned forward so that his forehead was touching Cadance's. "Why, Mr. Weasley! Are you trying to seduce me?" asked Cadance.

Charlie laughed. "You caught me," he said.

"It's working," said Cadance. Charlie kissed her forehead.

"Does that mean you now have a reason to stay?" asked Charlie.

"Maybe," said Cadance.

"Cadance?" asked Charlie.

"Hmm?"

"Will you marry me?" he asked.

**_End Flashback

* * *

_**

When Cadance finally snapped out of it, Melinda had picked up her pace and was further down the hallway. Dumbledore put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Cadance looked up at him. "She _is_ me," said Cadance. "My daughter grew up to become _me_. I tried to protect her from that for so long, and I _failed_. She wasn't supposed to grow up to become _me_."

"Wait a moment, Cadance," said Dumbledore grabbing her arm to stop her from walking. He put his hands on her shoulders. "Of all the people that your daughter could grow up to be, I'm glad she grew to become someone like _you_." He pulled her into a hug and she returned his embrace.

They walked back into the Great Hall. Cadance spotted Mills talking with Jen and George. "Uncle Albus, I'll talk to you later," she said. "I have something to take care of first." He nodded and turned to join Moody and McGonagall.

Cadance walked briskly up to Mills. "Jen. George. Beat it," she said.

"Hi, Cadance. Nice to see you, too. Why yes, I _did_ think the service was lovely," said Jen.

"Not now, Jen," said Cadance firmly.

"Alright, alright!" said Jen throwing her hands up in defeat. "Come on, George, let's find our children and make sure Peeves hasn't eaten them." Jen and George walked away.

"What mission did you offer my daughter, Mills?" asked Cadance.

"Ah, yes," said Mills. "I was wondering when we would come to this."

"I'm serious," said Cadance.

"Just your standard, run-of-the-mill intelligence gathering mission," said Mills. "It's ironic though. It was the very mission I was going to offer you if you would have come back to rejoin the Aurors. But instead, I gave it to your daughter."

"Take back the offer," said Cadance grabbing his arm. "I'll come back."

"No, that's okay," said Mills pulling a piece of parchment out of his robes. It was the letter she had written him the day Sirius had died. "You don't want to work for a… what was it you called me… a bastardly dingbat."

"Mills, if you were going to ask _me_ to do it then it must be something that a young inexperienced Auror shouldn't do," said Cadance. "I'll do it if you just don't let Melinda go."

"No, I'm sorry," said Mills. "We really want her to go. She shows… _great promise_." Cadance slapped him across the face before stalking away. Several people turned to look.

Charlie turned to Dumbledore, who was talking with McGonagall and Moody a few feet away. "Do you want to take this one or should I?" he asked.


	14. Death is Not Awesome

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as anyone else's.

A/N: I don't really have anything to say.

The following months were not pretty. Death Eater attacks were heightened. Melinda and Chris were almost done with Auror training. They had also started working at Kala's bar. The mood at Hogwarts was tense. Cadance, even on a good day, was easy to get into arguments with. Cati often missed classes because she had to tend to Auror business all night and was too tired to move in the morning. Wendy stepped in to help. She was still not over Sirius's death.

One day, in late September, Melinda came home from Auror training to find Chris sitting on the couch. They were on different training schedules for the last few weeks of training. "Hey," she said.

"I've been waiting for you," he said. "We need to talk."

"About what?" she asked.

"About us," said Chris standing up.

Melinda sighed and walked to the kitchen as she said, "Chris, there is no _us_."

He grabbed her arm and whirled her around to face him. "Can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me that you have no feelings for me?" he asked her.

"Chris, you and Wyatt are my _best friends_," she said. "I love you."

"You know what I mean," said Chris. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't have the same feelings for me that I do for you."

Melinda looked him in the eyes. "I _can't_ do this," she said. "It's _too hard_. It hurts too much."

"Stop," said Chris. "I don't know what's gotten into you lately."

"What do you mean?" asked Melinda.

"You've changed," said Chris. "You're moody and irritable. And you're _taking risks_ that you shouldn't!"

"Is this about that demon from yesterday?" asked Melinda.

"That's part of it. And this mission you took is part of it, too," said Chris.

"The mission is months away still," said Melinda.

"But you took it," said Chris. "If anything happens to you…" He trailed off.

"Hey," said Melinda softly, taking a few steps closer to him. She wrapped her arms around him and he returned her embrace.

"I worry about you," said Chris. "We finish Auror training in two weeks. Then we have to go to a week of camp and we're done."

"I know," said Melinda.

"I know the Ministry offered us jobs," said Chris. "But we don't have to take them. We don't have to become Aurors. Kala didn't. And then we could be together."

"Chris, even _if_ we didn't become Aurors, that doesn't necessarily mean that we could be together. The danger wouldn't be over," said Melinda.

"We could go to San Francisco," said Chris. Melinda started to pull away, but he held her tighter and she didn't fight him. "This war hasn't reached America. We could work for the American Aurors. We could turn down the jobs that the Ministry offered us."

"I already took it," said Melinda.

"What?" asked Chris pulling back a little so he could look her in the face. "Melinda, are you aware that the Ministry gives us six months to make a decision after Auror camp?"

"I know," said Melinda. "But I start as soon as possible."

"Melinda, even _your mother_ took the six months," said Chris.

"I know," said Melinda. "But Voldemort wasn't around then. I'm sorry." She pulled away from him and left the kitchen to go to her room. Chris watched her go. He sighed and sat down at the kitchen table and put his head in his hands.

* * *

About a week later, Chris was at work tending bar. It was a little after midnight when Cadance, Charlie, and Bill hurried in, looking around. They caught Chris's eye and went up to the bar.

"Have you seen Cati?" asked Cadance urgently.

"No, why?" asked Chris. "What's wrong?"

Cadance, Charlie, and Bill exchanged a look. "It's probably nothing," said Charlie. "She went to work last night and then was gone all day. The Ministry said she should have been off hours ago. We thought maybe she came here."

"No, she hasn't been in all night," said Chris. "Want me to ask Kala if she's seen her?"

"I'll do it," said Cadance hopping over the bar and walking into the back room. Suddenly they heard her scream. "Ah! Kala! My God!"

They heard Kala's voice respond with, "Cadance! Don't you know how to knock?"

"Is that the King of Spain?"

There was a pause before Kala responded with, "Maybe." A Spanish man stalked out of the backroom muttering under his breath in Spanish. Two men in black suits got up from the bar and walked out with him.

Charlie clapped Bill on the shoulder. "We'll find her," he said reassuringly.

"Charlie, I'm getting really worried," said Bill.

"She'll turn up," said Chris.

Just then, Cadance and Kala came out of the back room. "Alright, listen up everyone!" exclaimed Kala hopping on the bar. "Tipsy's is closing early tonight! I want everyone out of here NOW!" Cadance armed herself with a fireball to drive home Kala's point. There was only slight hesitation before all of the demons disappeared in their own customary way.

"I'm alerting the Order of the Phoenix," said Cadance. "I don't like this at all."

"Did you check Disney World?" asked Kala.

"She didn't go to Disney World, Kala," said Cadance.

"You know how she likes Disney World!" argued Kala.

Cadance leaned on the bar. She propped her head up with one hand and drummed the fingers of her other hand on the bar top a few times.

"And the Ministry hasn't heard from her?" asked Kala.

"No," said Charlie.

"And that didn't worry them?" asked Kala.

"Routine patrol duty," said Cadance. "Once your shift is over, you can go home unless you have something to report."

"Well, did you talk to the person who relieved her from duty?" asked Kala.

"Oh, good idea, Kala! Top notch! Why didn't we think of that?" asked Bill sarcastically.

"Watch it, Bill," said Cadance. "I realize you're worried, but you don't need to snap."

"Sorry," said Bill heavily.

"The person on duty after her didn't see her," said Charlie. "But he said that wasn't unusual. They only see each other about half of the times during the switch."

"How is that a good system?" asked Kala. No response. "And what could the Ministry tell you?"

"Nothing," said Cadance. "They don't like me in the Auroring Department anymore so they don't really talk to me."

"Are you going to alert the Order or what?" asked Bill.

"Kala bring the Scotch," said Cadance.

"He was from_ Spain_, Cadance, and I don't appreciate your jokes at…" began Kala before Cadance cut her off.

"No, Kala!" broke in Cadance. "_Scotch_, like the alcohol! Not '_a Scot'_, like a person from Scotland!"

"Oh," said Kala. "Right. I'll go get that."

"Chris?" asked Cadance looking around.

"Yeah?" responded Chris stepping forward.

"Go home," said Cadance.

"I can help," argued Chris.

"Go home, Chris," said Cadance.

"But…" began Chris before Cadance cut him off.

"I said, _go_," she said very seriously. He rolled his eyes and marched out of the bar. There was a pause before Cadance turned to the rest of them. "Let's go."

* * *

Chris hurried into their flat. He rushed down the hallway, bypassed his room and went straight to Melinda's. Her room was dark. She was asleep. He sat down on the edge of the bed. "Melinda," whispered Chris shaking her shoulder. "Melinda, wake up."

Melinda's eyes opened slowly. "Chris?" she asked groggily. "What is it?"

"Your mom and dad and Bill came into the bar," said Chris. "They have no idea where Cati is. She should have been off-duty hours ago and she never went back to Hogwarts."

"What?" asked Melinda, concerned, as she sat up in bed. Chris kept one hand on her shoulder.

"Kala's shut down the bar. They're going to have a meeting," said Chris.

"What kind of meeting?" asked Melinda swinging her legs over the side of the bed and going to her wardrobe. She opened it and started digging around inside of it.

"Your mother's alerting the Order," said Chris. "They pretend like we have no idea what that means."

"My mother hates the Order," said Melinda. There were a few bumps and thuds as things shifted around. "_Lights!_" The lights in the room magically snapped on.

"Your mother is in charge of the Order," said Chris.

Melinda pulled robes on over her pajamas before answering. "She hates the Order," she said looking back over her shoulder at him. He was still sitting on the bed. "She hates being in charge. It must have been serious if she alerted the Order and called an official meeting."

"Where are you going?" asked Chris.

"You and I both know the answer to that question," said Melinda walking out of the room. "Wake Wyatt!" she added from the hallway.

"Wyatt!" exclaimed Chris getting up off the bed.

"Wyatt, wake up!" exclaimed Melinda.

Wyatt kicked open his bedroom door and walked out wearing nothing but boxer shorts. He gave a big yawn. "What the hell do you guys want?" he asked sleepily.

"Put on some clothes," said Melinda grabbing a light cloak. "We're going to Hogwarts."

* * *

"What should we do?" asked McGonagall. Nobody responded. Cadance had her elbows on the table and her head in her hands. "Cadance? You're supposed to be in charge."

"What do you want me to say?" asked Cadance raising her head. "The person who has been my best friend _since birth_ is gone. I'm sure this isn't some elaborate hoax. Something is wrong. I'm trying to _think_ of a plan so that we can at least find out _something_. Is that okay with you?"

"Don't lash out, Cadance," said Arabella heavily.

Cadance mumbled something under her breath that sounded like "I'll lash out if I damn well want to."

"There's got to be something," said Bill.

"Something is wrong," said Harry. "We just have to find out what."

Suddenly, there was a tapping at the window. Merlin was closest. He used his walking stick to push the window open and a black owl flew in, circled the table twice, and then dropped a scroll on it in front of Bill. It flew back out. There was a moment of silence before Bill reached out and took it. The scroll was tied with a black ribbon. There was something gold attached to it.

"It's Cati's wedding ring," said Bill softly. He tugged on the ribbon to untie it. The ring slid off and fell onto the table with a soft _clink_. He gulped and unrolled the parchment. "Dear Mr. Weasley," he read. "I'm most terribly sorry for your loss. Respectfully yours, Lord Voldemort."

There was a pause. "It's gotta be a trick," said Cadance. She reached out to grab Cati's ring. The minute her fingers closed around it, this strange feeling gripped her. She closed her eyes and braced herself for a vision.

When she opened her eyes, she was on the ground staring up into Jen and Charlie's faces. "What did you see?" asked Jen grimly.

Charlie grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her to her feet. "It's not a trick," said Cadance as her eyes began to fill with tears. "I saw it. Voldemort fired a spell… she fell."

Bill got up from his chair and walked silently out of the room. Charlie started to go after him, but Arthur put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "Let him go, son," said Arthur. Instead, Charlie wrapped his arms around Cadance, who had lost control and was sobbing hysterically. Slowly, the knowledge that they had lost another one sunk in and within a minute or two, everyone else was caught up in their grief and was either crying, or comforting, or both. Snape slunk out of the room about thirty seconds after Bill. His grief, like Bill's, was beyond tears.

After a few minutes, the door swung open and Melinda, Chris, and Wyatt ran in. They were out of breath. They took one look at everyone's faces and then Melinda broke down. She turned around and threw her arms around Chris and cried into the front of his robes. Dumbledore locked eyes with Wyatt and nodded as confirmation of exactly what the young witch and wizards feared.

Dumbledore allowed them to sit with their grief for a few more minutes before standing up. "We have to pull ourselves together. Godric's Hollow is unguarded. Little Abby and Joseph and Fred are there."

"They left them all with Dobby," said Harry. "He can protect them."

"All of you, go back to your homes," said Dumbledore. "Who was on duty in Godric's Hollow for tonight?"

"Me and Fletcher," answered Moody.

"Arabella, join them until dawn," said Dumbledore. "Everyone else, go to bed. Get some sleep. In the morning we'll start to pick up the pieces."

Slowly, the Order began to filter out until Charlie, Charlie and Dumbledore were left with Melinda, Wyatt, and Chris. "You're not supposed to know about the Order," said Cadance, still choked up, for lack of something better to say.

"Oh please, I've known since I was about 15," said Melinda softly as she hugged her mother.

"Why don't the three of you stay at Hogwarts for tonight?" offered Dumbledore.

"No, it's okay," said Melinda. She paused to sniffle. "But we'll be back first thing in the morning." They quietly left, leaving Dumbledore, Charlie, and Cadance alone.

"Pick up the pieces," said Cadance, repeating Dumbledore's words from a few minutes earlier. "What pieces are there to pick up? What am I supposed to do without her?"

Charlie pulled her closer and kissed her forehead. "It's okay," said Charlie. "Everything will be okay."

"But nothing will ever be the same again."

* * *

And so another Memorial Service was held at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Melinda and Chris finished up Auror Training and Chris, like Melinda, took the job and started immediately, despite the fact that they had six months to decide. They continued to work at Kala's bar during some nights. Melinda also continued to prepare for the mission that she had taken against her mother and Chris's wishes.

A very rainy early November turned into a very snowy late November. James sat in the Common Room late one night procrastinating on his Divination Homework. He and Molly were the last people down there but she, too, had just gone to bed. He was about to doze off when he was awakened by the clock chiming 12:00. The Common Room was completely empty.

He yawned before looking back down at his star chart. He hated Divination. He especially hated having to make predictions and justify them using cosmic evidence. Who the hell cares? He shifted the papers on the table to procrastinate finishing his work. A heavy piece of parchment fell to the floor. He reached down to pick it up. It was the Marauder's Map. He had used it earlier to avoid Filch on his way to the kitchens with Molly.

In the interest of counter-productivity, he unfolded the map and tapped it with his wand. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he whispered. From the tip of his wand, lines began to appear all over the parchment until all of Hogwarts was revealed. He noticed that McGonagall was pacing her office. He had taken to checking the map almost every night before bed, and he had noticed that this was not an uncommon occurrence.

Aunt Cadance, too, appeared to be pacing her Common Room. Uncle Charlie and Uncle Bill were in bed. He also saw that four people were at the gates of Hogwarts, guarding the entrance to the grounds. He scanned the map for another minute or so, before something struck him as odd. There were only four at the front gate. There were always five, with five more standing by, ready to be at Hogwarts in a moments notice in case they were needed. He scanned the grounds, before he found the missing Auror. He had to do a double-take. First of all, it was Melinda. Second of all, she appeared to be in the lake. It then occurred to him that the lake must be frozen so she was probably _on_ the lake. There was another dot with her. This one was not labeled.

The two dots appeared to be circling each other. So either they were ice skating, or they were fighting.

James snatched up the map and ran up to his dorm room. He grabbed a heavy cloak and threw it around his shoulders as he ran down the stairs and through the Common Room. He kept checking the map, altered his direction twice to avoid Filch and Mrs. Norris, and was out the front doors and on the grounds in less than five minutes.

It was snowing hard, and the wind was blowing. He pulled his cloak tighter as he raced to the edge of the frozen lake. Once he got there, he peered out onto it's glassy surface. He couldn't see anything. He glanced down at the lake on the map. The dots were gone. Confused, he started look around him for any sign of his cousin. He drew his wand.

Suddenly, he felt as if something had pushed him forward, though he knew nobody had touched him. He fell forward and slid across the lake. The map in his hand went flying, but he managed to keep a hold on his wand. He scrambled to his feet, slipping and sliding on the ice, when he felt himself get thrown backwards again. This time he hit with such force that he felt as if he had gone through it. He felt the sudden shock of cold. He tried to take a deep breath but found that he couldn't. That's when it hit him: he was in the lake.

James looked up and could see the surface. He tried kicking his legs to move himself upward when he saw a jet of light fly overhead. He was almost to the top when he saw a dark figure crouching at the edge. But it was so cold…

* * *

When James opened his eyes, it took a few seconds to focus. Then he realized he was in the hospital wing. "Well, hey there Flounder," said a voice to his right. He looked over and Cadance sitting in a chair next to his bed.

"What happened?" he asked rubbing his eyes. "How long have I been here?"

"About two hours," said Cadance leaning forward. "You fell through the ice. Why don't _you_ tell me what you were doing out there?"

"Melinda!" he exclaimed trying to sit up. "She was out there!"

"Whoa," said Cadance leaning forward and pushing him back down. "Calm down. Melinda's fine. Start from the beginning."

"I was in the Common Room and I saw that Melinda was out on the lake and there was something out there too and I went out to help her and… I don't know. I think I was thrown on to the lake. I tried to get up, but I was thrown forward again and that's when I went through."

"And I was coming out to help you and I saw a demon use telekinetic powers to throw you forward twice and I saw you go through the ice. I shot a spell at the demon and then went on to pull you out," said Cadance. "But now the question is… _how_ did you know that Melinda was out there if you were in the Common Room?" James remained silent, unsure of how to explain himself. Cadance peered at him over her half-moon spectacles in a very Dumledore-ish way and held up the Marauder's Map.

"I forgot to wipe the map clean," deadpanned James.

"You forgot to wipe the map clean," said Cadance matching James's tone. "You broke the cardinal rule of marauding: Always wipe the map clean when you're done. Mischief managed." The writing on the map disappeared and it appeared as if it was a blank parchment again.

"You..." began James.

"Yes," interrupted Cadance. "I know about the map. In fact, I've suspected you had it for a while now. So now why don't you tell me about what _really_ happened tonight?"

"Melinda was on the lake and there was an unlabeled dot," said James. "And it looked like they were fighting. I got worried."

"The unlabeled dot must have been a demon," said Cadance. "Generic, lower-level demons don't have names and therefore can't be labeled on the map. Melinda was up here about half an hour ago. She said she vanquished a demon earlier."

"That explains it then," said James.

"Now, I believe we have to have a little talk, young man," said Cadance. "How do you think your father would react if I told him that after all we've done to protect you children, you _used the Marauder's Map_ to put yourself in a dangerous situation?"

James looked down. "I suppose he wouldn't be happy."

"Which is why you're very lucky that_ I_ found you," said Cadance. He looked back up at Cadance. "And I have convinced Madame Pomfrey to allow me to take care of your punishment, and not mention anything to Professor McGonagall. And Melinda and I aren't saying anything."

"Really?" asked James.

"Yes," said Cadance. "Just don't ever let me catch you pulling a stunt like this again. If you think someone's in trouble, get some help."

"Can I ask you a question?" asked James.

"Sure," said Cadance.

"How do you know about the map?" asked James.

"Oh boy," said Cadance. "Well, it's partly my fault you got it."

"How so?" asked James.

"You don't know anything about the map, do you?" asked Cadance. James shook his head. "I didn't think so. Well, your Grandfather and Sirius and Remus and their friend Peter were the Marauders."

"They were?" asked James.

Cadance nodded. "James was Prongs, Remus was Moony, and Sirius was Padfoot," she answered. Then she paused and a strange look crossed her face. "Wormtail now works for Voldemort."

"I never heard any of that," said James.

"Of course you didn't," said Cadance. "We don't like to talk about it. After James died and Remus left and Sirius went to Azkaban… you heard Sirius was in Azkaban… the map was ownerless. I took it and used it for my own purposes. Then I cast a spell on it so that it would make it into the hands of 'the son of owner past'; I needed something that rhymed with 'cast!'. I left it in the hands of two very capable trouble-makers… namely Fred and George… you remember Fred, right? You were young when he died. Well, I was confident in my spell-writing abilities. But because of the wording, I suppose the map found its way into your hands."

"How long have you known that I had it?" asked James.

"At Sirius's memorial service, Melinda's attention was caught by the word 'Padfoot'," said Cadance. "After that, I asked Harry for the map so I could keep an eye out on what's going on at Hogwarts. He couldn't find it. I knew you must have gotten it. But now, I'm sure you understand why I can't give it back."

James avoided her gaze. "Yeah," he muttered.

"Some day I will give it back to you," said Cadance. "But now my need far outweighs yours."

"One more question," said James.

"Alright," said Cadance.

"How did _you_ know that I needed help?" asked James.

"If you think for one second that I'm not watching you and Molly and Vivien like a hawk while you're in the confines of this castle, you've got another thing coming."

* * *

Adjusting to life without Cati was fairly hard. Her job was open, and Wendy was filling in temporarily. Bill rarely did anything but wake up, go to work, come home, and sit in his room. Charlie and Cadance began to worry about him. Cadance, herself, wasn't much better off. At times she appeared to be moving on, but then the next moment she was moody and snappish.

But life went on, since as it turns out the earth kept rotating and moving about the sun and all that fun stuff that makes days and nights. One evening, in late November, Chris and Wyatt were sitting in their living room. Chris was doing the crossword puzzle, and Wyatt was eating Cheez Wiz and crackers.

"Honestly!" exclaimed Wyatt. "Think about it! This is _liquid cheese_! Shouldn't it eventually form into a solid? But it doesn't! It's mind-boggling."

"I just don't know, Wyatt," said Chris without looking up or paying much attention as he filled in a few boxes in the puzzle.

Just then there was a knock on the front door. "Get the door, Chris," said Wyatt.

"Why don't you?" asked Chris.

"You're closer," said Wyatt. "And I'm older."

"Will one of you _please_ get the door?" exclaimed Melinda angrily from her bedroom.

"Oh alright," said Wyatt. "Keep your panties on." He got up and opened the front door. There was a guy standing there with sparkling teeth and perfect hair. "Uhhh… can I help you?"

"Does Melinda Weasley live here?" the man asked, peering around Wyatt to the living room. Chris looked up from his paper.

"That depends," said Wyatt uneasily. "Who's asking?"

"Jim Rogers," said the man flashing a winning smile. "I'm supposed to take her out tonight."

Chris's mouth dropped open. Wyatt just stared at Jim. "Wyatt, let him in!" exclaimed Melinda from the bedroom.

Wyatt stepped aside and Jim walked in. "I'm sorry, I think I was hallucinating," said Chris standing up. "Why are you here again?"

"Melinda and I have a date tonight," he said.

"Processed cheese in a can?" offered Wyatt holding out the can of Cheez Wiz.

"Oh, no thank you," he said. "So you guys live with Melinda, eh?"

"Er… yes," said Chris. "How did you meet Melinda?"

"I came into the bar last night while she was working," answered Jim.

"Okay, and what are you intentions?" asked Wyatt casually.

"Wyatt!" exclaimed Melinda harshly as she walked into the living room wearing a slinky black dress and heels.

"Hey, just wondering if we should leave the front door unlocked for you or not!" said Wyatt.

"Let's go, Jim," said Melinda rolling her eyes

Jim helped her slip on her coat and as they were walking out the door, Wyatt called out, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"What the hell was that?" asked Chris once they door had closed. "Who was that joker?"

"Oh, he seemed nice," said Wyatt.

"No, he's not!" exclaimed Chris. "He's… he's…" His voice trailed off.

"What's with you?" asked Wyatt. "Do you like her or something?" Chris just stared at him silently for a second. "YOU DO!"

"No," said Chris hurriedly.

"You do!" exclaimed Wyatt spraying Cheez Wiz everywhere. "You _do_ like her!"

"Wyatt, please…" began Chris.

"Oh boy!" exclaimed Wyatt.

"Well, I'm not going to stand here and watch as that lustful son of a bitch ravishes her!" exclaimed Chris.

"Whoa, Chris," said Wyatt. "I think you're overreacting a little."

"No, I'm not," said Chris. "And I'm going to do something about it!"

"What are you going to do!" exclaimed Wyatt. "Show up on their date!"

"No," said Chris. "I'm going over her head!"

"What?" asked Wyatt, confused. Chris didn't say anything, but instead marched over to the hat rack and grabbed his cloak. In a swirl of white lights, Chris orbed out. "Oh my," said Chris. "This won't end well."

* * *

"CADANCE!" exclaimed Chris as soon as he stormed through the front doors of Hogwarts, startling several first years who were on their way out of the Great Hall. "Where's Professor Weasley?" he asked them.

"Which one?" asked one of them.

"I just walked in here bellowing for Cadance," said Chris. "Which one do you think!"

"The other Professor Weasley's in the Great Hall," said another. "Maybe he knows where she is."

Chris marched past them and into the Great Hall, where a few people were still finishing up dinner. "What the hell is your problem?" asked Wendy as soon as he reached the head table. "You look like you're about to slaughter someone."

"_Your daughter_," hissed Chris pointing at Charlie.

"Oh, what did she do?" asked Charlie.

"She's _dating_," spat Chris.

"Oh," said Charlie, looking to Wendy. "Yes, well, and that's frustrating because why?"

"Well, because she's… an attractive young girl?" offered Wendy.

"Where's Cadance?" asked Chris.

"In her office," said Charlie. "But I'm still confused." Chris threw up his hands in frustration and marched back out of the Great Hall and down the hallway to Cadance's office.

He kicked the door open. Cadance had her head bent over her desk, working on something. She didn't even look up at his arrival. "Your daughter is dating," said Chris.

"Good for her," said Cadance. "What's he like?"

"He's a…. son of a bitch," said Chris.

"Why?" asked Cadance finally looking up.

"Because he's… and then he… and his…" Chris trailed off. "She met him at the bar!"

Cadance chuckled and looked back down. "Oh the number of guys that Cati and I met while working at Tipsy's…" she trailed off. Then her head snapped back up. "Wait, they were all pigs."

"Exactly!" exclaimed Chris. "Let's go!"

"Chris, go home," said Cadance. "Melinda is fine. She's got a good head on her shoulders. Just go home."

"But…" began Chris.

"Chris, I haven't really fought Death Eaters or demons in a very very long time," said Cadance. "I think I might be a little out of practice. But that _does not_ mean that I couldn't kick your ass. Go home."

Chris sighed and walked out of her office. Cadance shook her head and rolled her eyes. She looked back down at the papers on her desk and shuffled through them. Charlie walked in. "You missed dinner again," he said.

"I know," said Cadance. "I'm just… swamped."

"With what?" asked Charlie, circling her desk to stand behind her. He put his hands on her shoulders and looked at what she was looking at. "Is this a spell?"

"It's the spell we used to vanquish Voldemort last time," said Cadance.

"What are you doing with it?" asked Charlie.

"Well, it's useless now," said Cadance. "It didn't work as _permanently_ as we hoped. Cati was trying to reword it before she died. I found it in her office. I'm trying to finish what she started. But I'm no good at this. Cati always…" She stopped suddenly and heaved a sigh. They were silent for a few seconds, and then Cadance looked up at her husband. "Did you happen to see Chris a few minutes ago?"

"Yeah, did he seem a little… off?" asked Charlie.

"Something strange is going on with that boy."


	15. Christmas Spirit Kind Of

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as anyone else's.

A/N: It's a fairly short chapter. I've been busy with, like, watching Penn State kick some football ass.

November gave way to December. The week before Christmas, the weather warmed up to just above freezing. The snow turned to a very cold rain. Hogwarts students went home for the Christmas Holidays.

Christmas Day was going to be spent at Hogwarts as it was every year. But this year, they were going to spend Christmas Eve in Godric's Hollow at Jen and George's house. The entire Order of the Phoenix was coming. Around noon, Charlie went over to Jen and George's to help them get their house ready. Cadance was supposed to meet him there. She had left suddenly that morning.

"George!" exclaimed Charlie as he walked through the front door.

"Jen, Charlie's here!" exclaimed George as Charlie took off his cloak and hung it up.

"It's raining pretty hard out there," said Charlie as he clapped George on the back. "Merry Christmas." They walked into the living room where Jen was dusting. The giant Christmas tree was already decorated. Abby and Fred were rearranging the ornaments for no apparent reason.

"Where's Cadance?" asked Jen.

"I have no real idea," said Charlie. "She hurried off about an hour ago and said she'd meet me here."

"Strange…" said Jen trailing off. Suddenly the front door burst open. Everyone jumped. Jen's reflexes kicked in and she armed herself with a fireball.

"Jen!" exclaimed a voice from the hallway.

"It's Cadance," said Jen extinguishing the fireball and breathing a sigh of relief just as a very muddy Cadance helped a very muddy Kala into the living room.

"What the…?" said George.

"What happened?" asked Jen hurriedly.

"Sorry about the mud, Jen," said Kala weakly as Cadance helped her to sit on the couch.

"Are you alright?" asked Jen.

"I think so," she said.

"What happened?" asked Charlie, repeating Jen's question.

"I was at the bar doing the books and this demon walked in," said Kala. "I told him I was closed, but apparently he wasn't there for the alcohol. He was kicking my ass until Cadance showed up. It took the two of us to take him out."

"I had a feeling…" said Cadance trailing off. "Sorry, Charlie, that's why I ran off. There was no time to explain."

"How'd you get muddy?" asked George.

"I got tossed out of the window," said Kala. "Look, it's over and done with. Let's just let it go."

"Well, you two go get cleaned up," said Jen. "Both bathrooms upstairs are free. Go shower." After they got up and headed up the stairs, Jen turned to Abby and Fred. "Why don't you two go upstairs and play or something."

"Are you just trying to get rid of us so you can have adult talk?" asked Abby.

"Yes," said Jen ushering them towards the stairs. "Play nicely!"

After they were gone, Jen turned to Charlie and George. "It's Christmas," said Jen. "It's Christmas, damnit, and we can't get a break."

"It's okay," said George. "Worse things have happened."

"What else needs to be done to get ready for this evening?" asked Charlie trying to change the subject.

"Just cooking," said Jen brushing hair out of her face. "And Molly will be here soon to take care of that. Oh, and the dining room needs opened up." They all cast a sidelong look towards the dining room.

"When was the last time that place was opened up?" asked Charlie.

"The last time we were here for Christmas," said Jen.

"That was… almost 20 years," said Charlie.

"Was it?" asked Jen.

"Cadance and I have been married for 19 years," said Charlie. "It was our first Christmas."

They paused and tried to imagine the amount of dust that accumulated over 20 years. "Let's take a vote," said George. "Who thinks Cadance should clean the dining room?" Jen and Charlie exchanged a look and then raised their hands. "It's a consensus!"

"What's a consensus!" called a voice from the hallway. A second later, Mrs. Weasley walked into the living room.

"Cadance is going to clean the dining room," said George, kissing his mother.

"Oh, okay," said Mrs. Weasley. She greeted Charlie and Jen. "Are you ready to start cooking, dear?"

"Ready when you are," said Jen. Both women went into the kitchen.

George looked at his older brother. "Wanna watch TV?" he asked.

"Sure," said Charlie. They sat down on the couch and flipped through the channels.

"Daddy!" exclaimed Abby from the top of the stairs. "Can we come down now?"

"Yes, dear!" called George. A few seconds later, Abby and Fred squeezed in between them on the couch. Abby casually took the channel changer out of his hand and flipped to a different station. Charlie chuckled and George shrugged.

"What is this?" asked Charlie, referring to the show that she had turned on.

"_Bewitched_!" exclaimed Abby.

"What the hell is that?" asked Charlie.

"Charlie, watch your language around the children!" exclaimed Mrs. Weasley from the kitchen.

"Sorry," said Charlie. "Abby, dear, what is _Bewitched_?"

"It's a TV show!" exclaimed Abby exuberantly. "There's this witch named Samantha and she's married to a muggle! And he doesn't want her to use magic, so she tries not to but every show she does anyway. And Samantha's mother doesn't like the guy she married."

"Oh," said Charlie.

The four sat in silence and watched the show for a while. Suddenly there was a sound of something crashing in the kitchen followed a second later by the sound of someone thundering down the stairs. Charlie and Bill hopped up and ran into the hallway in time to see Jen and Cadance collide in the hallway. Cadance was holding her robes in her hand and only had one of her shoes on. Her hair was still a little damp from her shower. Mrs. Weasley was coming into the hallway.

"What the hell…?" asked George.

Jen scrambled to her feet and quickly helped Cadance out.

"Bill…" said Cadance quickly.

"..and Vivien," added Jen.

The two sisters looked each other over for a second then Cadance said, "Let's go." They turned towards the door, but Charlie grabbed Cadance.

"No," said Charlie forcefully. "You're not running off like this again; not without an explanation. What's going on?"

"Bill and Vivien…" said Cadance as she tried to break away.

"… are right here," said Melinda's voice as the front door swung open. Everyone looked over as Melinda walked in followed by Vivien, Bill, and Dumbledore.

"Oh, thank God," said Jen.

"Hey, what's going on?" asked Kala as she bounced down the stairs.

"I had a… feeling," said Cadance. "A feeling that Bill and Vivien were in trouble… and Jen did, too, I'm assuming." Jen nodded.

"As we were on our way out of the castle to come here, we were attacked by a demon," said Bill. "About a second later, Melinda showed up. And Dumbledore right after her."

"It would appear _our_ feelings were a little quicker than yours were on this one, my dears," said Dumbledore to Cadance and Jen.

"That's rather fortunate," said Cadance. "Melinda… you had a feeling?"

"Yeah," said Melinda. "It would appear I've inherited the genetic gift of foresight."

"Genetic _curse_, more likely," said Cadance.

"Can you keep it down out there!" exclaimed Abby. "Me and Fred can't hear our show!"

They all walked into the living room and Vivien sat down with Abby and Fred on the couch. Kala sat down on the love seat with Melinda. Dumbledore sat down in a chair. Mrs. Weasley excused herself to check on the food in the kitchen. Bill, Charlie, Cadance, Jen, and George remained standing. "Is this _Bewitched_?" asked Cadance.

"Yes," said Abby without looking away from the TV.

"Jen, do you think it's okay to let your daughter watch a show where a muggle husband tries to suppress his witch wife by not allowing her to use her powers?" asked Cadance.

There was a pause before Jen snapped her fingers and the TV turned off. "Pick something else to watch, Abigail Alana Weasley."

"Mom!" exclaimed Abby.

She snapped her fingers again and the TV and VCR turned on. "Here, watch _The Wizard of Oz_," said Jen.

"Okay," sighed Abby.

"Yes, and the one where the muggle child with shiny shoes is on a mission to kill the witch is _much_ better," said Cadance.

"Wicked witch," pointed out Jen. "There's a good witch, too."

Cadance thought for a moment then said, "Alright, you got me with that one."

"Guess what," said Jen.

"What?" asked Cadance.

"We voted. You get to clean the dining room," said Jen.

Cadance cast a furtive look towards the dining room. "When was the last time it was opened up?" she asked.

"When you lived here," said Jen.

Cadance heaved a determined sigh and then rolled up the sleeves of her robes. "I'm going in," she said very seriously. She walked over and swung the double doors opened and disappeared inside. Suddenly they heard an ear piercing scream.

"DEMON!" questioned Jen urgently.

"Yeah! Demonic _DUST BUNNY_!" exclaimed Cadance. "I think I'm going to need a bigger broom!"

"Oh, buck up, soldier!" called Melinda laughing.

"It. Is. ALIVE! DOWN, FOUL BEAST!"

"So, Melinda," said Dumbledore casually. "Are Chris and Wyatt going to be joining us this evening?"

"Eventually," said Melinda. "They're going home tomorrow to see their family for Christmas Day. But tonight they're coming here."

"Mommy, why is the Wicked Witch green?" asked Fred. By now, everyone had settled in the living room except Mrs. Weasley who went to do some more cooking.

"I don't know, sweetheart," said Jen.

"Are all bad things green?" he asked.

"No, dear, they're not," responded Jen.

"But broccoli is bad and it's green," chimed in Abby.

"Well, that's a matter of opinion," said Jen. "It's not necessarily evil, dear."

"Well, neither is the Wicked Witch!" argued Abby.

"Alright, this one I have to hear," said Vivien. "How is the Wicked Witch not… wicked?"

"Well, look at it from her point of view," said Abby. "She's green. A little kid dropped a house on her sister. And _then_ the kid takes her sister's shoes! Who takes a dead woman's shoes! And also, her only friends are deformed monkeys."

They all looked around at each other, not quite sure what to say. Luckily, the silence was interrupted by Cadance's scream from the dining room. "IT'S TAKING OVER THE PIANO!" Suddenly they heard a loud sound of several piano keys being struck at once. They all winced.

"I think I'll go help Molly in the kitchen," said Jen standing up.

"I'll join you," said Melinda as she followed her into the kitchen.

"Me, too!" piped up Kala hopping up.

"Can either of you cook?" asked Vivien.

"No!" said Kala excitedly as she skipped to the kitchen.

"So…" said Bill glancing around casually. "What do you wanna do?"

"We can play catch!" exclaimed Fred excitedly hopping off the couch. "Can't we, daddy?"

"Sure," said George getting up.

"It's freezing and raining outside," said Charlie.

"Who said anything about going outside?" asked George, casually flicking his wand. The coffee table slid off to the side.

"Jen's not going to be happy," said Bill.

"She is not the boss of me," said George.

"She says she is!" cried Abby, looking away from the TV.

"Well, she's not," said George. "Who else wants to play?"

"I'm in," said Charlie.

"Count me out," said Bill. "I don't want to feel the wrath of Jen."

"Albus? How about it?" asked George.

"Yes, come on, Uncle Albus!" exclaimed Fred hopping up and down excitedly.

"Oh, no thank you," said Dumbledore smiling pleasantly. "I think I'll just watch."

"Suit yourself," said Charlie. "Fred, go get a ball."

"What kind?" asked Fred.

"Oh, here," said Dumbledore snapping his fingers. A small, blue ball appeared in Fred's hands.

"Thank you!" piped Fred. He threw it to George. George tossed it to Charlie.

"Alright, Fred, let's work on your Quidditch skills," said Charlie. "You're going to have to dive for this one."

"Charlie, I don't think…" began Dumbledore speaking up but Charlie tossed the ball anyway.

Fred, of course, dove for the ball. He caught it a split second before falling into the wall.

"Whoops," said Charlie as George rushed over to help his son up. "Whoa, Fred, you put a whole in the wall!"

Fred was crying as George picked him up. "Nice catch, buddy," said George. "You okay?" Fred nodded sadly and sat him down next to Dumbledore on the couch. "Okay, sit here with Uncle Albus while I beat up your Uncle Charlie."

"Is someone crying out there!" called Jen from the kitchen.

"No!" exclaimed Charlie backing away from George who was narrowing his eyes at him.

Apparently this wasn't convincing because Jen rushed in with Melinda right behind her. "George!" exclaimed Jen angrily.

"Charlie threw it!" exclaimed George.

"And there's a hole in the wall!" exclaimed Jen.

Melinda was bending down to inspect it. "Wow, Fred's head must be really… wait a second! This is an old hole! It's hollow back here! Fred's head just went through the wallpaper that was covering it!"

"Abigail! What do you know about this?" asked Jen angrily.

"Mom! I'm 9-years-old! What would I know about putting holes in walls?" asked Abby.

"Yeah, and it looks like…" Melinda said as she leaned into the space in the wall and pulled out something. It was an old photo album covered in dust.

"Is that Cadance and Cati?" asked Bill as Melinda opened the album to the first page. She tilted the album towards him so he could see. "Oh, yeah. It's them."

"I would definitely say that Cadance knows something about holes in walls," said Charlie.

"CADANCE ROSE DIGENEVA DUMBLEDORE WEASLEY!" exclaimed Jen. "DID YOU PUT A HOLE IN MY WALL!"

Cadance came in from the dining room. "No," she said quickly. Then she saw what they were holding. "Yes."

"Cadance!"

"Well, it was _my_ wall when I did it!" exclaimed Cadance taking the photo album. "How'd you find it?"

"Fred put his head through the wallpaper," said Charlie. "How'd you get the hole there?"

"Actually, the same way," said Cadance. "This house was _not_ built for Quidditch."

"Fix it," said Jen.

Cadance casually waved her hand at the wall and the hole disappeared and the wallpaper fixed itself. "I forgot about this," said Cadance taking the photo album.

"What is it?" asked Jen.

But Cadance wasn't really paying attention. She was flipping casually through the album. "It's just pictures from mine and Cati's post-Hogwarts/pre-Hogwarts again days," said Cadance distractedly.

"Oh, I remember those days," said Dumbledore. "They were frightening."

Cadance paused at a picture. She chuckled and looked up. "Do you remember…" she trailed off and her smile faded. "For a second I forgot." She closed the book and handed it to Melinda. "I should go finish the dining room." She walked out of the room and back to the dining room.

"I forgot to do some stuff at Hogwarts," said Bill. "Vivien, do you want to stay here or come back with me?"

"I'll stay here," said Vivien, now enthralled in the movie again with Abby and Fred.

"Jen, is it okay if she stays?" asked Bill.

"Yeah, it's fine," said Jen. Bill walked out into the hallway. "Bill!" called Jen. Then she heard the door close. "Should we have let him go like that? What if another demon attacks?"

"It's fine," said Dumbledore. "He should be fine."

"I don't like it," said Jen. "Today is all off."

"If it makes you feel better, I'll go back to Hogwarts for a while and keep an eye on things," said Dumbledore.

"Will you make a dramatic exit, Uncle Albus?" asked Abby excitedly.

"Oh, alright," said Dumbledore. He snapped his finger and a cloud of smoke filled the room, and quickly cleared.

"Hey, you didn't go anywhere!" exclaimed Fred once the smoke cleared to reveal that Dumbledore was still standing there.

"Fred, it's a cardboard cut-out," said Melinda giving the cardboard Dumbledore a spin.

"Wow," said Abby. "That's the best one yet!"

"Well, tonight's turning out to be _real_ festive," said Charlie.

"This is just _peachy_," said Jen. "I'm going back to the kitchen." She turned and walked out.

They heard the front door open and close and then Remus's voice call out, "Hello, Weasleys!"

"Everyone's in the living room, Remus," responded Jen's voice.

A second later, Remus walked in. "What's wrong with her?" he asked. "She looked a bit upset." He took the seat that Dumbledore had vacated.

"My mom and Bill are in moods now because they found an old scrapbook in the wall with pictures of my mum and Cati," said Melinda. "And that's put _her_ in a mood."

"We're a rather moody bunch really," said George.

"Oh I see," said Remus. He turned and looked at Fred, who still looked rather upset and angry. "And what's wrong with you?"

"Uncle Charlie made me put my head through the wall," he said thickly.

Remus turned and looked at Charlie. "It was just the wallpaper!" exclaimed Charlie. "And I'm sorry!"

"Where are Cadance and Bill?" asked Remus.

"Bill went back to Hogwarts for a while," said Charlie. "And Cadance is in…" He was cut off by the sound of a minor chord coming from the piano in the dining room.

"Piano's clean… and tuned!" exclaimed Cadance's voice.

"Ah," said Remus. "I think I'll go talk to Cadance then." He stood up and went to the dining room where Cadance was sitting at the piano, staring at it. "What are you doing?"

Cadance turned around and looked at him. "Well, I just finished cleaning the dinging room. So I started to clean the piano and I realized it was out of tune. So I waved my wand and tuned it and now I'm sitting here staring at it."

"How are you?" asked Remus.

"Fine, why?" asked Cadance.

"Because I know you," said Remus. "And they told me you were in a mood."

"I'm not," said Cadance looking back at the piano. She poked out the first few notes of "Jingle Bells" with one finger.

"Because it's understandable if you're not," said Remus walking up next to her.

"I am," said Cadance. She paused. "I think."

"There's nothing wrong with being upset," said Remus.

"I lost my best friend," whispered Cadance choking back tears. "And Sirius."

"I know," said Remus. "I lost them, too."

Cadance poked out the first two lines of "I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day" with her finger.

"We could sing Christmas Carols tonight," said Remus. "You always liked that."

"I can't play anything without Cati," said Cadance. "It's just not complete without her part." She looked back at the piano and played the first two lines of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" again.

"_I heard the bells on Christmas Day. Their old familiar carols play_,"quoted Remus from the first verse of the poem written by Longfellow that the lyrics from the song came from. "_And wild and sweet the words repeat of Peace on Earth, Good will to Men._"

Cadance looked at him. "_And in despair I bowed my head. 'There is no peace on earth,' I said. For hate is strong and mocks the song of Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men_," she quoted back from a later verse. "I hate bells."

"You need to perk up a bit," said Remus. "The world's not all bad."

"Oh, but it is," said Cadance. "At least lately it has been."

"Chin up," said Remus. "It'll get better."

Cadance was about to respond when she was interrupted by someone screaming from the living room. "SNOW! IT'S SNOWING!" They hurried into the living room where Fred and Abby had their noses pressed up against the window. Everyone else was gazing out it as well.

"Oh, would you look at that," said Remus. "I guess the temperature finally dropped back down again."

"It's really Christmas now!" exclaimed Abby excitedly.

"I'm glad it's snowing," said Melinda lazily. "The rain was depressing."

"And it looks so pretty," said Kala.

"Do you think we'll get snowed in?" asked Vivien. "It's snowing hard."

"Well, it's covering the ground already, but I doubt we'll get snowed in considering we can leave by the fireplace," said George.

"But wouldn't it be cool if the snow covered the doors so we couldn't open them and we were trapped in?" asked Vivien.

"We don't need snow to feel trapped in," said Cadance staring out the window.

After a beat, George said like a radio announcer, "And that was Cadance Weasley with the Christmas Spirit. Thank you, Cadance."

"Sorry," said Cadance, turning and walking out of the room.

"Damnit, why do people keep ruining the Christmassy mood?" asked Jen.

"Well, we'll have to do something about that," said George slipping his arm around his wife.

"Look," said Melinda pointing out the window. Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Molly, and James were hurrying up the sidewalk. Ron was carrying Joseph on his back. Jen rushed to the front door and opened it and they all came in.

"How about this weather?" asked Ron as they all came into the living room after shedding their shoes and cloaks. "What is everyone up to?"

"Oh, trying to figure out how to preserve the Christmas Spirit since it keeps getting ruined one way or the other," said George. "Any ideas?"

"What happened?" asked Ginny.

"Why is the Christmas Spirit ruined?" asked Hermione.

"I've got it!" exclaimed Harry rushing into the hallway to get his cloak and shoes.

"That was strange," said Jen cocking an eyebrow. "Anyway, first demons attacked Kala and she and Cadance came back here all messy and kind of beat up and then Charlie put Fred's head through the wall and we found a photo album and it got Bill all upset and he went back to Hogwarts but even before that he and Vivien were attacked by demons and everyone's all crabby!"

"Did anyone follow any of that?" asked Ron.

"I did!" exclaimed Harry from the hallway. "And I'll be right back!" They heard the door open and shut and then from the window saw Harry running through the snow back towards his house.

"You know what we need to do now, right?" asked Melinda grinning brightly. Everyone just stared at her. This probably wouldn't end well.


	16. When Life Give You Lemons

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's.

A/N: Happy (BELATED) Holidays everyone. **Please review!**

It took about half an hour to assemble most of the rest of the Order of the Phoenix and extended Weasley family, including Wyatt and Chris. And once they did, Melinda immediately sent them outside, where they stood freezing in snow half way to their knees. The only ones missing were Cadance, Wendy, Dumbledore, Harry, and Snape, who were MIA, and the older Molly, who was in the kitchen cooking.

"So what's your plan?" asked Chris stamping his feet in an attempt to keep warm.

In response to his question, Melinda picked up a handful of snow and launched it at him. It hit him square in the face. Everyone froze for a second, and then Chris brushed the snow off of his face. "Snowball fight," said Melinda casually.

"No way," said McGonagall heading back towards the house. "I am too old…" She stopped abruptly as she got hit in the back with a snowball. She whirled around. "Alright, who threw it?"

George had a very plain smirk on his face. He pointed at Jen. She gave him a shove. "Did not!" she exclaimed. "George did it!"

McGonagall narrowed her eyes and snapped her fingers. A pile of snow appeared out of nowhere and fell on George.

"Alright, let's lay down some ground rules," said Melinda as Jen proceeded to dig her husband out of the snow. "First of all, no _magic_. That's cheating. Second of all, teams. I'm thinking… old folks versus young people…"

"Excuse me!" exclaimed Hermione. "What are we classifying as _old_?"

"Everyone over the age of 50," said Melinda.

"Damn," said Remus.

"Wait a second," said Charlie. "That makes the teams me and Bill, George, Jen, Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Kala, Melinda, Wyatt, Chris, Molly, James, Abigail, Vivien, Fred, and Joseph against three Founders, Dumbledore, Merlin, McGonagall, Moody, Arabella, Arthur, Remus, Mundungus, and Hagrid? Is anyone else here _really_ glad we're fighting with snowballs and not magic?"

"This is ridiculous," said Hufflepuff. "I am _not participating_." She was promptly hit with several snowballs of unidentifiable origins.

"It's on!" exclaimed Melinda diving behind a tree as snowballs began flying in all direction.

"You know," said Hermione as she ducked behind a hedge. "I really think we could have watched a Christmas movie or something."

"I'm a fan of _Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer_," said Wyatt as he nailed Gryffindor with a snowball.

"Where's Cadance?" asked Bill as he launched a snowball.

"I don't know," said Charlie. "I'm about two more disappearing acts away from putting a bell on her."

"Anyone have any idea what Harry ran off to do?" asked Ginny.

"I don't know but I bet it's insane," said George.

"We're missing Wendy, Severus, and Albus, too," said McGonagall as she side-stepped a snowball in an attempt to not be completely involved in the snowball fight.

"I think they're all at Hogwarts," said Bill.

"Perhaps it's time for someone to go bring them around," said Merlin leaning on his walking stick. "If you throw that snowball at me, Weasley, I'm going to do something terrible to you. Don't think that I don't know what you're thinking."

All the Weasleys holding snowballs froze. "Which one?" asked Jen cocking an eyebrow.

"George," said Merlin pointing. "I'm going in with Molly. Hold fire until I pass please." Everyone avoided hitting him with a snowball as he walked past and into the kitchen.

"Oh, hello, Merlin," said Molly pleasantly. "Cup of tea?"

"Oh, I've got it, Molly," said Merlin waving his arm and two steaming mugs of tea appeared on the kitchen table. He pulled out a chair for Molly and then sat himself.

"What's going on out there?" asked Molly looking out the window. "Are they ganging up on Helga?"

"Probably, dearie," said Merlin. "She didn't want to participate in their snowball fight. Do you know where Cadance is?"

"I think she's upstairs," said Molly.

"Oh, thank you," said Merlin standing back up walked to the stairs and called up them. "Cadance Rose DiGeneva! Come down here a moment." There was silence for a moment. "Cadance!" he repeated.

"I'm coming!" came Cadance's voice. Merlin walked back into the kitchen and sat back down. A few seconds later, Cadance walked into the kitchen. "You bellowed, oh wise one?" she asked.

"Be a dear and go find your uncle and Wendy and Severus," said Merlin.

"Where are they?" asked Cadance.

"If we knew then we wouldn't need you to go find them," said Merlin. "But most likely at Hogwarts."

"Dinner will be ready in about two hours," said Molly.

"Alright," said Cadance. "I shouldn't be long." She grabbed one of Jen's cloaks off the hook in the wall since hers was still a mess from that morning's run-in with demons at Kala's bar and walked out the front door and to the street. The anti-Apparation barrier ended there and she Apparated to Hogsmeade and walked up to Hogwarts.

She decided to first look in the dungeons since she was sure that she would at least find Snape there. She walked past his office and knocked on the door. There was no response, but being Cadance she opened the door anyway. Snape was sitting as his desk. Without looking up, he said, "Manners would dictate that you wait for permission after knocking and before entering."

"I have manners," said Cadance. "They're just not always good ones."

"Is there something you needed?" asked Snape finally looking up.

"Yeah, we were all wondering when you're coming to Jen's," said Cadance.

"I'm not," said Snape. "Is that all?"

"No, that is not all," said Cadance staring him down. "The entire Order is there. They expect you to be there, too."

"Why is that?" asked Snape standing up and walking around to the other side of the desk. "Why does it matter?"

"It matters because like it or not you are a part of the extended family," said Cadance.

"I'm not," said Snape. "My family is dead."

"I lost her, too, you know," said Cadance. "We all lost her. And we lost Sirius, too. And we're going to lose more. We're never going to be okay with it. But that shouldn't stop us from eating Molly's delicious dinner."

"You're not going to leave until I say yes, are you?" asked Snape.

"Think of Vivien," said Cadance. "Your niece's daughter is trying to get through her first Christmas without her mom and you'd be disappointing her if you didn't show up. And if I have to be there than you do too."

"Alright, I'll go," said Snape. "But I won't pretend I'm happy to be there."

"Oh, once you take a bite of Molly's turkey you won't have to pretend," said Cadance. "Now, I have to go find my uncle and Wendy and then I'm heading back to Jen's and you _better_ be there by the time I get there."

"I will be," said Snape. "But it's not because I'm frightened of you."

Cadance winked at him before turning and heading out the door and up to the main floor. Walking past her classroom, she poked her head in. Her uncle was sitting at her desk. "What are you doing?" she asked coming all the way in.

"Oh, hello, dear," said Dumbledore looking up. "I'm just trying to get some work done."

"You're dead. You don't have a job. What kind of work can you possibly be doing?" asked Cadance.

He held up the parchment so Cadance could see. "I'm going over that spell you and Cati were working on," said Dumbledore.

"Something is off with it," said Cadance. "I've kept trying to work on it, but it's pretty useless without Cati."

"Yes, she did have an uncanny knack for coming up with the right rhymes at the right time," said Dumbledore. "It seems almost hopeless."

"Dinner will be ready soon," said Cadance. "Merlin and Molly sent me to get you, Snape, and Wendy. I've already found Snape. Do you have any idea where Wendy is?"

"Yes, actually, she's in the Transfiguration classroom grading essays," said Dumbledore.

"Thanks," said Cadance heading out. "I'll see you at Jen's in a little bit."

"I'll be along in about five minutes," said Dumbledore.

Cadance nodded and continued on her quasi-mission. She walked down a few corridors to the Transfiguration room. She walked in and Wendy immediately looked up. "Let's roll, sunshine,' said Cadance. "Molly and Merlin sent me to get you. Dinner won't be too much longer now and she wants everyone at Jen's soon."

"Oh, yeah," said Wendy. "I'm not going."

"Oh no, not another one," said Cadance rolling up her sleeves. "Look, just give up now and come with me. If I can convince _Snape_ to go, then I'm going to be able to convince you."

"Cadance. I'm. Not. Going."

"How much do you want to bet on that?" asked Cadance cocking an eyebrow.

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Back at Jen's house, the snowball fight had mostly broken up because all of the members of the over-fifty team were too smart to stay outside in the freezing cold snow. Mostly everyone had retreated inside and was enjoying either hot chocolate or tea in the living room by the fire. Only Melinda, Chris, James, and George remained outside throwing snowballs at each other. Snape and Dumbledore had arrived just a few minutes earlier. Harry was still MIA.

Everyone was just chatting amiably when the heard the front door open rather violently. Everyone tensed up for a second before they heard Wendy and Cadance's voices arguing. "No, Cadance! Put me down!" exclaimed Wendy

"Shove it, Wendy!" argued Cadance. Cadance walked into the living room with Wendy thrown over her shoulder. She was struggling violently.

"Cadance, are you crazy?" asked Jen in disbelief.

"I'm not playing around, Cadance! I'm not celebrating Christmas anymore! I'm celebrating Hanukkah!" exclaimed Wendy.

"Wendy, stop being stupid!" exclaimed Cadance as she used her foot to shove Wyatt off the couch. She threw Wendy down where Wyatt had been sitting seconds before.

"This is Jewish oppression!" exclaimed Wendy defiantly.

"You're not Jewish!" exclaimed Cadance. "I call shenanigans on you! Shenanigans, Wendy! Shenanigans! Molly made dinner and you're going to eat it, damnit."

"Whoa, wait! Molly made dinner?" asked Wendy. "And you weren't involved at all?"

"No," said Cadance.

"Hot dog! Alright, I'll stay!" exclaimed Wendy settling into the couch. Cadance cocked an eyebrow at her. "Don't look at me like that. You know you're a sucky cook."

Meanwhile, outside…

"Alright, Children, It's getting cold outside," said George. "Time to go in."

"Who are you calling children, Uncle George?" asked Melinda hitting him with a snowball.

"All of you," said George. "Come on now. Don't make me pull my wand on you. Let's go."

"I don't know, Uncle George. I think I can take you," said Melinda twirling her wand through her fingers. "At the very least, I doubt you'd fire first on your own niece."

"That's probably true," said George laughing. "Let's go, you lot."

"Alright, I have to stop by and see Jim before dinner anyway," said Melinda.

"Oh Heavens," said Chris rolling his eyes. "God forbid you go one day without seeing your precious Jim."

"Oh, Chris," sighed Melinda. "Stop being such an ass."

"_Oh Jim_," mocked Chris in a high-pitched voice. "_I miss you sooooooo much_."

"Chris, if you don't watch it…" began Melinda getting angry.

"Is Jim that guy from the bar?" asked James, interestedly as they finally headed back towards the door.

"Honestly, James," said Melinda rolling her eyes. "He's not just some guy from the bar!"

"You met a guy at the bar?" asked George opening the door and ushering them inside in front of him.

"Yes, and they're dating now," said Chris.

"But it's a demon bar," observed George.

"Oh, will you all come off that?" asked Melinda. "He's not a demon."

"How do you know?" asked Chris.

Melinda paused. "Do you want to take this outside, Chris?" she asked opening the door again.

"See, she gets grouchy whenever she doesn't see Jim," said Chris, trying to prove his point.

"Oh, shove it, Chris," said Melinda.

"I think I might be on Chris's side with this, Melinda," said James. "First of all, if his name is Jim then his real name must be James. And that's my name. And second of all, you met him in a demon bar."

"Oh, you all suck!" exclaimed Melinda in frustration as she stalked out of the room.

Chris and James exchanged a high-five before the rest of them walked into the Living Room, taking seats on the opposite side of the room as Melinda. "I thought you were going to see Jim," said James, from a safe distance.

"Watch it, cousin," said Melinda as she stood up. "Or you won't live to see New Year's."

"Who's Jim?" asked Gryffindor curiously.

Ravenclaw slapped his arm. "Mind your business, Godric," she hissed.

"It's her new boyfriend," volunteered James. "He may or may not be a demon."

"Hey!" exclaimed Kala. "I object to the stereotype that all my customers are demons!"

"Thank you!" said Melinda as she walked into the hallway to put her cloak on. "I'll be back by dinner!" She slammed the door on her way out.

"So what is Jim like?" asked Dumbledore.

"Don't you start, too, Albus," reproached Rowena. "That boy is nobody's business but Melinda's."

"That's easy for you to say," said Dumbledore. "Your great-grand niece isn't going out with someone who may or may not be a demon."

"Okay, can we stop using the phrase 'may or may not be'?" asked Wyatt. "Because everyone 'may or may not be' a demon. There are no other options. Everyone either is a demon or is not a demon; they _may_ be a demon or they may _not_ be a demon. There is no third option. I _may_ be a demon or I _may not_ be a demon. You _may_ be a demon or you _may not_ be a demon. As it turns out, everyone in this room happens to fall under the _may not_ category. But if they didn't qualify as 'not a demon' they would certainly be classified as 'demon'."

"You finished?" asked Cadance.

"Yeah," said Wyatt. "And anyway, I've met the guy a few times and he seems nice. He's pretty normal."

"Normal, eh?" asked George. "Well, we haven't had one of them around here in a while…"

"Exactly my point!" exclaimed Chris. "Look, I've met him, too. He seems way too normal for this family…"

"Hey!" argued Cadance. "This is a VERY normal family! And Charlie and I met this Jim guy once and he seemed pretty nice."

Suddenly, the fire in the fireplace glowed green. "Someone's coming," said Charlie warily. Everyone started glancing around trying to figure out who could be arriving.

"HO HO HO!" exclaimed the red-clad figure as he emerged from the fireplace.

"SANTA!" exclaimed Joseph excitedly as he ran up to him.

"Harry?" asked Cadance peering at him.

"No, _Cadance_," said Harry, dressed up as Santa. "Kris Kringle."

"Oh right," said Chris. "Normal family."

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The next evening, Christmas was spent at Hogwarts. Everyone who was present at Christmas Eve dinner was also there for Christmas except Wyatt and Chris, who were with their family in San Francisco, and with the addition of Melinda's boyfriend Jim. No students stayed at Hogwarts during the break.

Melinda and Jim's entrance caused quite a stir. They were the lasts to arrive, and everyone else was already hanging around the Head Table talking and waiting to eat. "Is that Jim?" asked Godric to the people around him, not realizing how loud he was.

"_Godric_," spat Rowena. "Mind your manners!"

"What?" asked Godric. "_Is_ that Jim? I just want to know!"

Melinda grabbed Jim's hand and led him to the Head Table. "Hey, everyone," she said. "This is Jim. Jim, this is… everyone"

"Hi Jim," said almost everyone in unison.

"Hi… Jim, is it?" asked George shaking his hand.

"Alright sit down, everyone," said McGonagall. Everyone took their seats and food appeared on the table. As people began to fill their plates, talk mostly centered around Jim.

"So, Jim, I've never seen you before," said James. "Tell me about yourself."

Gryffindor, however, chose this moment to speak up. "Wait a second! You mean you don't know him? He didn't go to Hogwarts?" he asked.

"_Godric_," hissed Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

"No, it's alright," said Jim to them. "My mom was an American. I went to the Salem Institute instead."

"And what do you do for a living, Jim?" asked Ron curiously.

"I work for Internal Affairs in the Ministry," he said. Most of the Aurors present flinched; Internal Affairs was usually at odds with the Auroring Department over protocol.

"Ah," said Cadance. "Do you think you could snag me a copy of my personnel file? I've always wanted to see it."

"Well, I've seen your file," said Jim. "It's rather large. I only get so many photocopies per month."

"That big, huh?" asked Cadance. She chuckled mischievously. "Excellent."

"Mom?" asked Melinda confusedly.

"Despite the fact that I spent much of my younger years employed by the Ministry, and despite the fact that my father-in-law is the Minister of Magic, I am very proud of the fact that I have given the Ministry such a hard time. And besides, most of my problematic days were back before Arthur was Minister anyway," explained Cadance.

"Mom, I honestly can't picture you causing problems like that," said Melinda.

"Really now?" asked Remus. "Because the rest of us can't believe she's _not_ causing problems anymore."

"Well, that's life I suppose," said Cadance. "People change. For example, I'm fairly certain that Bob Reynolds was not working for Voldemort at the time he first employed me and Cati as Aurors. Obviously that changed."

"Bob who?" asked James.

"Ah, so young," said Cadance ruffling his hair a bit.

"So back to Jim," said Gryffindor perkily.

"Godric, leave that boy _alone_," said Ravenclaw.

"I just wanted to ask him if he's a demon!" argued Gryffindor. "That's the quickest way to find out if he's a demon or not!"

"But wouldn't a demon in disguise deny that he's a demon?" asked James. James and Gryffindor both tried to stare Jim down.

"Er, I'm not a demon," said Jim. "Really."

"But can we believe you?" asked James.

"_James_," rebuked Ginny. "Manners."

"Hey! It's bad manners if Jim's a demon and he comes in here and lies and says he's not," said James.

"I'm not a demon," said Jim.

"I'm sorry about them," said Cadance. "We forgot to give them their medication. They ask silly questions like that sometimes."

Younger Molly put her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand. "Chris was right," she said much too maturely for her fifteen years of age. "Jim is way too normal for this family."

-----------------------------------------------------

"Melinda, STOP!" exclaimed Chris grabbing her wrist to keep her from walking out of the door. "There is still time for you to say no!"

Melinda and Chris were standing in their living room about a month or so after Christmas. It was Chris's day off from work, and he was surprised when Melinda rushed in about midday explaining that they were pushing up her mission and she needed to be back at the Ministry within the hour.

"Chris, I'm not going to just show up at the Ministry and tell General Mills that I'm _not_ going," said Melinda. "I've worked _too hard_ training for this mission!"

"You shouldn't even be going _on_ a mission!" argued Chris tightening his grip on her wrist. "We got out of Auror Training, like, three months ago!"

"Chris, let me go," said Melinda softly and putting her free hand on his shoulder. "It's okay."

"I don't have a good feeling about this," said Chris firmly.

"You're being ridiculous," said Melinda looking him directly in the eye. "And you're hurting my wrist." Chris didn't reply. "Come on. I've got just over a half-hour and I still have to stop at Hogwarts and see my parents and still get back to the Ministry in time to see Jim before I have to be at the Auroring Department."

There was a pause, then Chris quickly pulled her closer and kissed her hard. After a second, Melinda pulled away and wrenched her arm free from his grasp. Then, she slapped him hard across the face. She grabbed her cloak from the hook by the door, while Chris recovered from the shock of being slapped. "Tell Wyatt goodbye for me. And when I get back, I don't ever want to see you again," she said as she opened the door and slammed it on her way out.

A few minutes later, At Hogwarts…

"Charlie, do you have any threes?" asked Cadance peering intently at him over her cards.

"Cheater," said Charlie as he handed her a three. "Bill, got any Kings?"

"Go Fish," said Bill.

"Damnit, I suck at this game," said Charlie.

"Honestly, Charlie, how can you suck at Go Fish?" asked Bill.

"I just don't know, Bill," said Charlie shaking his head and throwing his cards down. "It's the middle of the day on a Wednesday. Why are we sitting in our Common Room playing cards? Shouldn't we have classes to teach, Cadance? And Bill, shouldn't you be at work at Gringotts or something?"

"No, we're supposed to be right here," said Cadance. "We're waiting for something."

"What are you talking about?"

"How many times do I have to tell you?" asked Cadance exasperatingly. "I have it in with the author."

"How's it all going to end then?" asked Charlie. Cadance just shrugged. "Well, what are we waiting here for?"

Just then, the portrait swung open and Melinda came in. "Probably that," answered Cadance. "What's up, Melinda?"

"Why are you dressed like that?" asked Charlie, noticing that she was wearing black pants and a black tank top under her cloak and black boots, as opposed to her Auror Uniform.

Cadance looked her up and down and then said, "Did you get dressed out of my closet this morning? You're dressed like Cati and I used to when…" She trailed off as realization dawned on her. "Oh no."

"They pushed the mission up," explained Melinda. "I've got to be in the Auroring Department in a half-hour. I just wanted to stop and say goodbye first."

"Wait a second," said Cadance jumping up and running into her room.

"Where is she going?" asked Melinda.

"Hell if I know," said Charlie. "I can't keep track of her. I wanted to put a bell on her, but Minerva stopped me."

"I've told you time and time again," said Bill. "Electric fence."

Cadance ran back into the Common Room holding an Indiana Jones-style hat and a belt that had a bullwhip and knives and other such things attached to it, but I'm not sure what because they probably won't be used in this story. I won't lie to you people.

So anyway, Cadance ran up to Melinda and put the hat on her head and handed her the belt. Melinda fastened the belt around her waist then struck a pose. "How do I look?" she asked.

"Exactly like your mother," said Bill, looking at the two very similar looking women standing next to each other.

"That's a little freaky," said Charlie doing the same.

"Well, I have to go," said Melinda. She hugged both of her parents and her uncle.

"Be careful," warned Charlie.

"I will," said Melinda. "I love you." She waved goodbye on her way out the portrait hole.

There was a few seconds of silence before Bill said, "I'm waiting for an 18-year-old version of Cati to come bouncing in here, looking for the 18-year-old version of Cadance that just left."

Charlie shuddered. "Do you remember Cati at 18-years-old?" he asked. "It was terrifying!"

"We didn't think so at the time," said Bill. "At the time, we thought she was fun."

"18-years-old," said Cadance thoughtfully. "7 months after I graduated from Hogwarts, I wasn't even employed by the Auroring Department yet. I was still taking my six months reprieve before I had to give them my answer about whether I would work for them… working at Kala's bar… living it up… looking for Jen… babysitting Cati… and her boyfriends."

"Hmmm… there were a lot of them," said Charlie.

"Watch it, Charlie," said Bill pointing at him.

"Now, Melinda… 7 months after graduating from Hogwarts… is on her first mission," continued Cadance. "And look at us. We're old….ish. It seems like yesterday we were that age, hanging out in Kala's bar watching Drew sing karaoke songs that made us question his sexuality. And now Charlie and I have one that age. And we've suddenly passed into that stage where we've coped with our grief enough that we can talk about Cati and Sirius without crying."

"And your daughter is 18-years old," said Bill. "My daughter is 8 and your daughter is 18."

"Vivien just turned 12, Bill," said Charlie.

"Right, 12," said Bill. "That's what I meant."

"18-years-old," said Cadance quietly. Then a strange look crossed her face. "EIGHTEEN! OUR DAUGHTER IS ON A MISSION!" Charlie and Bill stared at her for a second. "MELINDA IS ON A _MISSION_. SHE'S ON A _MISSION_!"

"Thanks, former-Commander Obvious," said Bill.

"She's too young!" exclaimed Cadance sinking onto the couch. "She's too young. I don't like this." Charlie put his arm around her and she put her head on his shoulder. "I'm scared, you guys."

"It's okay," said Charlie. "I'm sure everything will be okay."

Meanwhile, at the Ministry, Melinda quickly said goodbye to Jim then went to the Auroring Department. "Oh good, you're here," said one Auror as he hustled by. "Mills wants you in his office."

Melinda made her way to his office and knocked on the door. She entered when she heard his voice tell her to. He was sitting at his desk and looked up when she entered. "You wanted to see me, General?" asked Melinda.

"Yes, I wanted to make sure you… looked the part," said Mills. "And you do. The hat and belt was a nice touch."

"They're my Mom's. She gave them to me before I left," said Melinda.

"You didn't tell her about the mission, did you?" asked Mills accusingly.

"No," said Melinda. "She just gave them to me."

"Well, that works out perfectly," said Mills. "They complete the illusion."

"I still don't understand why you wanted…" began Melinda, but Mills cut her off.

"And you don't need to," said Mills. "Just do as you're told and leave the strategies to older, more experienced Aurors."

"Whatever you say, sir," said Melinda. "Will that be all?"

"Yes," said Mills. Melinda turned to go out the door. "Good luck, Ms. Weasley."

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Two days later, Cadance and Charlie were on the couch in their Common Room reading. It was after dinner and there was going to be an Order Meeting in about a half-hour. Cadance had her head resting on Charlie's shoulder, but she lifted it up when they heard a tapping sound. They both looked over at the window. A large owl was waiting patiently to be let in. Cadance felt her heart in her throat. "Charlie," she said, grabbing his arm.

"I'll get it," he said. He got up and opened the window. The owl landed on the sill and dropped a letter on the floor before flying off. Charlie closed the window then bent down to pick it up. It was sealed with green wax and bore an insignia of two crossed wands with sparks. "It's from the Auroring Department."

Cadance got up and walked over to him as he broke the seal. She read over his shoulder as he read out loud. "Dear Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, I am sorry to report that your daughter Melinda Weasley was killed in the line of duty earlier today. Please accept our deepest…" Charlie didn't finish reading. He let the letter fall to the floor as Cadance threw her arms around his neck.

"Please tell me this is a bad dream," sobbed Cadance hysterically.

Charlie, with silent tears in his eyes, didn't know what to say to his wife.

Not too much later, in the Order Meeting Room, the entire Order was waiting patiently for Cadance and Charlie. "Where do you think they are?" asked Ron. "They're usually the first ones here."

"Well, the meeting isn't even supposed to start for another five minutes," said Harry. "They're not late yet."

"Late for them," said Bill. "Maybe they forgot."

"No, Cadance mentioned something about it at dinner," said McGonagall.

Just then, the door was opened with such force that everyone jumped. Cadance and Charlie walked in. Cadance threw the Crystal of Merlin, a family heirloom and symbol of their power, down on the table. "I QUIT!" she exclaimed. She turned to leave but she ran into Charlie, who put his arms around her.

"You can't quit!" exclaimed Jen. "Merlin, tell her she can't quit!"

"Well, I'd really rather you didn't quit," said Merlin. "But because of free-will and all…"

"Melinda is dead," said Charlie.

Some people began to cry. Others took the news in a dejected silence. "I can't do this anymore," said Cadance. "It hurts too much. I don't want anything to do with…" She stopped short and began gasping for breath. A look of intense pain crossed her face.

"Cadance, what is it?" asked Charlie grabbing her as she started to collapse, clutching her chest.

Between gasps of breath, Cadance said, "I… have never… felt this much pain."

"Child birth?" asked Jen.

"This is… worse," responded Cadance, squeezing Charlie's hand. "Like my heart is literally breaking."

"You are a Sorceress, Cadance," said Dumbledore. "When you let yourself be ruled by your emotions, your powers turn your emotional pain into physical pain. I've told you before you need to keep your emotions in check or they would destroy you."

"Leave her alone, Albus, she just lost her daughter," said Snape.

"Maybe not," said Merlin speaking up. He got to his feet and began pacing.

"Pardon?" asked Gryffindor.

"Losing a child brings a lot of emotional pain," said Merlin. "But there is also a sort of release. Only one thing can cause the amount of emotional pain that you're feeling right now, Cadance. And that is when someone you love is in a lot of pain themselves. Death is empty. Pain… pain is another story."

"Wait," said Jen getting to her feet. "In order to be in pain, you have to be alive!"

"You must realize, of course, that there is a chance I could be wrong," said Merlin. "But there is some hope."

"We have to get to the Ministry to find out what they know," said Charlie helping Cadance to her feet.

"I'll come with you," said Arthur standing up.

"Someone needs to go to Wyatt and Chris," said Cadance. "And the rest of you, wait here for news from us."

"I'm tired of just sitting around and waiting for things!" exclaimed Harry as Arthur, Cadance, and Charlie all walked quickly from the room.

Cadance stuck her head back inside. "Merlin, later on when all of this is settled, you and I are going to sit down and have a talk about how you know so much yet are unable to tell us how this story ends." She disappeared once again and everyone turned to look at Merlin.

"Hopefully, happily ever after," said Merlin.

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Charlie, Cadance, and Arthur walked into the Auroring Department, expecting to find it up to its usual standard of hustle and bustle. However, it was almost as if they had just walked into a funeral home. "This is incredibly odd," said Arthur. "I'm going to go talk to Major Cathem. He's always been cooperative." He headed off down one of the rows of cubicles.

"Come on, we have to find Pete Mills," said Cadance to Charlie.

"Oh dear," said a voice behind them. They turned around to see Pete Mills holding a folder. "I was wondering when you'd show up. Follow me to my office."

"No," said Cadance stepping forward. "We're going to talk right here and right now and it's going to be fast because we're working against the clock here, Mills."

"Please," said one Major stepping forward. "We found out less than an hour ago that we've just lost 10 of our Aurors; an entire mission down the drain. So if you could please not…"

"Oh my God, it's been so long that the new Majors don't even know me," said Cadance to Charlie. She turned back to the Major who had stepped forward. "My daughter, Melinda Weasley, was on that mission."

"Melinda Weasley?" asked the Major looking at Mills. "Melinda Weasley was on that mission? She's a private. She hasn't been out of Auror training for more than three months!"

"What was the mission?" asked Cadance.

"It was top secret. Only General Mills and the Aurors on the mission knew it," said the Major.

"Cadance Weasley," said Cadance introducing herself to the Auror as she shook his hand. "And this is my husband Charlie."

"Major Elvin Cathem," he responded.

"Oh, my dad is looking for you," said Charlie.

"What was the mission, Mills?" asked Cadance threateningly. "We _have_ to know."

"And why, pray tell, was Melinda Weasley on it?" asked Major Cathem. "I know for a fact that at least six of the ten Aurors were Majors. Why was she on a mission with so many Aurors who were so much more experienced? And anyway, she's the Minister's _granddaughter_! Use some sense, man!"

"Keep your voices down," said Mills. "And follow me into my office. I'll tell you everything in there."

"Oy! Arthur!" exclaimed Cadance at the top of her lungs. "Meet us in Mills' office!" Then she resumed a normal voice tone. "You're going to explain to the Minister of Magic why exactly his granddaughter is gone."

They walked into Mills' office. Arthur was a split-second behind them. "Talk quickly, Mills, we don't have time," said Charlie.

"We received word a few months back that Slytherin and Voldemort had split up into separate bases and were operating separately, with runners keeping one informed of what the other was doing," said Mills. "I figured they were weaker separated, and that if we could take down one, it would be that much easier to take down the other. I decided that Slytherin would be the best to start with. The three Aurors that had obtained the information launched several small missions to try to get themselves in to Slytherin's lair. They went to where they intercepted the runners. But they couldn't find any way to lure him out of his lair to either fight him or weaken him. That's when I came to you, Cadance."

"You wanted me as bait," said Cadance. "But I said no. So you used Melinda."

"Yes, but not in the way that you think," said Mills. "He had already tried using Melinda to get to you. I didn't think he'd do it again. So my plan was to make people think that you…"

"You didn't!" exclaimed Cadance interrupting him. "You wanted him to think it was me! That's why Melinda was dressed the way she was! And I _helped_ you by giving her the hat and the belt."

"Yeah, that was a stroke of luck on my part," said Mills.

"If I had the time, Mills, I would kill you," said Cadance. "But as it turns out I don't. What _exactly_ makes you think that everyone on that mission is now dead?"

"They're _gone_," said Mills. "They never checked in. I sent someone out to check up on them and the shack they were using as a base is _no longer there_."

"But you don't know for sure that they're dead," said Cadance.

"We also received this note," said Mills. He opened the folder he was holding and pulled out a small piece of parchment. Cadance took it and read it out loud.

"Dear General Mills, next time send better Aurors. I'm getting bored. Lord Salazar Slytherin," she read.

"I'm sorry for your loss," said Mills.

"She's not dead," said Cadance. "I don't know about your other Aurors. But Melinda is not dead."

"I know you wish…" began Mills.

"No, I _know_," said Cadance. "And if Slytherin wants a challenge, I'll be happy to give it to him." She turned to head out of his office.

"Cadance, what are you doing?" asked Mills. She ignored him kept walking. Charlie and Arthur exchanged a look then followed her.

"I'm going to stay here and keep an eye on things," said Arthur. "Send someone to keep me posted on what's going on on your end."

"Right," said Cadance. Charlie and Cadance headed back to Hogwarts. They used Floo Powder to travel to the fireplace in their Common Room.


	17. Making Lemonade Figuratively speaking

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as anyone else's.**

Once they were safely in their Common Room, Charlie asked "What now?

"I have a plan," said Cadance.

"Well, what is it?" asked Charlie.

"I'm hesitant to tell you," said Cadance.

"Why?"

"Because," said Cadance tentatively. "You can't come with me."

"_No_, Cadance!" argued Charlie.

"Charlie," said Cadance putting her hand on the side of his face. "If and when it comes to it, I'm going to offer Slytherin a trade: Me for Melinda. And I don't want Melinda coming home to both parents being gone." Before Charlie could respond, Cadance waved her hand, freezing Charlie. She kissed his cheek and went into her and Charlie's room. She took off her robes and changed into black pants and a black top, then pulled a lighter set of robes on over top. She went to the back of her wardrobe and pulled out a pair of black boots and put them on. Then she pulled up a loose floorboard and pulled out a large book.

She went back out into the Common Room just as Jen and Harry came in.

"What are you two doing?" asked Cadance.

"Merlin told us you came back," said Jen. "Is that the Book of Light?"

Cadance looked down at the book in her hands. She set in on the coffee table. It was indeed the Book of Light, which had been passed down through the line of Merlin and contained many magic spells. "Yeah," said Cadance.

"And why is Charlie frozen?" asked Harry.

"Right, give me a ten minute head start and then unfreeze him, Jen," said Cadance.

"What are you doing?" asked Jen as Cadance flipped to a page in the book. She pulled out a piece of parchment and began copying down a spell.

"I'm going into Slytherin's lair and getting my daughter back," said Cadance.

"We're going with you," said Harry.

"That's what you think," said Cadance.

"We're serious," said Jen.

"I can't let you," said Cadance.

"At least take Harry," said Jen. "If you take Harry with you, I swear to God I won't flag down Minerva."

Cadance weighed out the situation for a second then said, "Okay. Jen, I'm going to need you to unfreeze Charlie, distract the Order, and send messengers to Arthur at the Ministry. Not necessarily in that order."

"You got it," said Jen. She pulled Cadance into a hug. "Be careful."

"I'll try," said Cadance as she watched Jen walk out the door.

"What's the plan?" asked Harry.

Cadance paused for a second as she thought. "We're going to need some help from someone who won't ask too many questions."

"Where are we going to find someone like that?" asked Harry.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, they had rounded up James and Molly from the Gryffindor Common Room. "Ron and Hermione _might_ kill us for getting their daughter involved," said Harry to Cadance as they walked down the hallway. 

"Ron and Hermione will never know if _nobody tells them_," said Cadance looking pointedly at James and Molly.

"Yeah, and let's not mention this to Ginny either," said Harry.

"Or Charlie," suggested Cadance.

"Probably not to Minerva either," added Harry.

"Or to Molly and Arthur," said Cadance. "You know what… let's just never talk about this again."

"Good idea," said Harry.

"So let's get this show on the road," said Cadance. She stopped walking. They were in the hallway by Cadance's classroom.

"This is where you want to do this?" asked Harry.

"Yeah," said Cadance looking around. "Nobody's going to come down this hallway." She placed the tip of her wand on the wall and dragged it along. A thick black line appeared. By the time she stepped back, the thick black line had become a rectangle stretching from the floor to just a little above the height of a person. It was about three feet wide.

"What are we doing, Aunt Cadance?" asked Molly.

"_We,_" said Cadance pointing from her to Harry, "are going to go into Slytherin's lair and get Melinda back." She then pointed from Molly to James. "_You_ are going to guard the door."

"Hey!" exclaimed James angrily. "You said we'd get to go on an adventure with you!"

"This _is_ an adventure!" exclaimed Cadance. "The door to adventure! And you're guarding it!"

"What door!" exclaimed Molly frustratingly.

"This one!" exclaimed Cadance matching her tone and pointing to the large rectangle on the wall. "Oh! Sorry! I forgot." She turned to face the wall. She pulled a piece of parchment from her pocket and read from it. "When you find your path is blocked, all you have to do is knock!" She knocked on the door and the black line began to emit light. "There's the door."

"How do you open it?" asked James. "There's no handle."

"I don't need a handle," said Cadance. "Harry, do you have your pocket knife?"

Confused, Harry pulled his pocketknife from his robes and handed it to her. She flipped it open and ran the blade along her palm until she drew blood. "What are you doing?" asked Harry hurriedly.

"Shhhhh…" said Cadance. She pressed her palm against the door. "_Blood to blood, I summon thee. Blood to blood, return to me_." There was a barely audible '_click_' then the piece of the wall swung towards them slightly.

"Give us an hour," said Cadance as she pulled a long strip of cloth out of her robe pocket and wrapped it around her bleeding hand. "I want you to close the door behind us, but it can be pushed open from the other side. Hopefully we'll be able to disguise the door. If someone tries to come threw it who is _not_ on our side, I want you to throw this potion." She reached into her pockets and pulled out a glass vial. She handed it to James.

"What is it?" he asked.

"It's a potion that will erase the door. As long as whoever it is that's trying to come through hasn't crossed the threshold, they won't get through. You should position yourself so that if the door opens just a bit, you can see who's trying to push their way through. If they're not related to you, or aren't wearing Auror Robes, throw the potion. And if we're not back in an hour, throw the potion anyway, and then go find Jen and tell her everything I've just told you."

"Where does the door go to?" asked Molly. She looked worried.

"Wherever Melinda is," said Cadance, trying to sound comforting. "Unless I wasn't focused enough, which would suck, because then the door would _probably_ go to the Order of the Phoenix meeting room because that's where the rest of the people who share my blood are… like, Jen and Uncle Albus."

"We should hurry, Cadance," said Harry giving Molly's shoulder a comforting squeeze. He ruffled James' hair a bit as Cadance slide her fingers in the small space between the door and the wall and pried it open. It looked as if there was dark, empty space on the other side of the door: like there was nothing.

"We should be back in a flash," said Cadance. "Push the door all the way closed behind us." She stepped into the nothingness, and disappeared. Harry winked at the young witch and wizard before following Cadance.

On the other side, Harry practically bumped into Cadance. "Damnit, it didn't work!" exclaimed Cadance as she looked around her. "We're still at Hogwarts."

Harry looked around. It did look like they were in the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts. But somehow, it didn't feel right. "I guess we should go back to Molly and James…" began Cadance.

"No, Cadance, look!" whispered Harry. He pointed at the doors to the Great Hall. They should have had the Hogwarts crest to their left. Instead it only had the Slytherin Crest.

"Oh my," said Cadance. "Slytherin modeled his lair after Hogwarts."

Harry turned around to look at the door. Molly and James had done as they had asked and pushed it closed behind them, but the black lines outlining the door were still visible. "What do we do about this?" asked Harry.

Cadance looked around and noticed a large tapestry on the wall. It had a large snake on it. She snapped her fingers and it disappeared. She pointed at the wall containing the door and it appeared covering the wall. "If you were Salazar Slytherin, where would you keep prisoners?" asked Cadance.

"The dungeons," said Harry. "But if I was Salazar Slytherin and my prisoner was Melinda, I would be waiting for you with Melinda in the Great Hall, which probably has a great big throne."

"Good point," said Cadance. "But we don't know that for sure."

"Do you have a plan?" asked Harry.

"I always have a plan," said Cadance cockily. "But we'll have to be a little more… _invisible_." She snapped her fingers. Harry felt a rush of a strange feeling and then looked down at his hands. He couldn't see them.

"Don't lose me now," said Cadance. He couldn't see her. He felt her grab the sleeve of his robes and they both walked to the Great Hall. The pulled open the doors and slipped in.

Salazar Slytherin was indeed sitting on a throne, and Melinda was standing in front of him, very much alive. There was one table behind Slytherin: where the Head Table at Hogwarts would have been. The rest of the room was vacant.

Slytherin had noticed the door opened and his attention turned to it. "Who's there?" he called out. "_Accio Invisibility Cloak_!"

Harry briefly remembered a conversation he had with Albus Dumbledore in front of the Mirror of Erised in his first year of Hogwarts. Dumbledore had mentioned not needing an Invisibility Cloak to become invisible. He was very glad that Cadance had acquired the same skill as they stood there watching Slytherin look confused when no Invisibility Cloak came zooming towards him, and no intruders were revealed.

Slytherin turned his attention back to Melinda. "So," hissed Slytherin. "It's been a while since I hit you with that Cruciatus Curse. You mother should have felt it and showed up by now. Maybe it wasn't powerful enough. Shall I do it again?" He leaned forward slightly with his eyebrows raised.

Harry felt Cadance stir restlessly next to him, and he could just picture the look of anger on her face. Melinda, however, wasn't biting. "I'm not going to drop to my knees and beg for mercy, Slytherin," said Melinda keeping her head up. "And my mother isn't going to fall into your trap."

"Ah, but this isn't a trap," said Slytherin. "_You_ were the one who came to me. You and your Auror friends found out where my Death Eaters were meeting with Voldemort's Death Eaters to pass information. But I knew you were waiting to try to find a way to my lair. And I sent my own spies to watch from afar. Someone should tell your General that his plan worked; the Death Eater that was in charge _did_ think you were Cadance. And your fellow Aurors are lucky that he did, or I would have ordered him to have everyone killed. But when I thought Cadance was with them…" He let his voice trail off. "I _do_ have a soft spot for your mother."

"So you're just going to keep us here until she shows up?" asked Melinda, raising her voice a little.

"I know your mother," said Slytherin. "She'll come."

"You _don't _know my mother," snapped Melinda.

"I know Katherine," said Slytherin. "They are one in the same. She's probably trying to figure out how to get here as we speak."

"I'm three steps ahead of you, Slytherin!" exclaimed Cadance loudly. It startled Harry. He heard Cadance snap her fingers, and then felt another strange rush. He realized they were visible again. Harry looked at her questioningly. "What? We only have an hour!" she said defensively.

"See, Melinda!" exclaimed Slytherin joyfully. "I told you your mother would show up soon! And she brought Potter with her, too! Excellent. Excellent."

"Let's take care of this now, Slytherin," said Cadance striding forward, drawing her wand. Harry did the same.

"You think that the two of you and your unarmed daughter can fight me and win!" laughed Slytherin drawing his wand as well.

"I don't intend to fight you at all," said Cadance as she stood between Melinda and Harry. She put her hand on Melinda's shoulder. "I'm here to offer you a trade."

"What?" asked Harry and Melinda at the exact same time in the same confused and surprised tone.

"You don't really want Melinda," said Cadance, ignoring them. "I'm the one you want. Let Harry take Melinda home, and I will stay as your prisoner."

"Mom, no!" exclaimed Melinda.

"Shutup, Melinda," said Cadance.

"We've tried a similar arrangement, Cadance," said Slytherin rising from his seat on his throne. "It didn't end well for me. What makes you think I'd take this offer?" He snapped his fingers. There was a pause for a few seconds as Harry, Melinda, and Cadance all looked around them waiting from something to happen. Then, the doors to the Great Hall opened again, and five Death Eaters walked in. One of them threw off his hood to reveal Peter Pettigrew.

"Wow," sighed Cadance to Harry and Melinda. "I can't decide whether I hate him more, or whether I hate Slytherin more. I'm torn." Then she got that look that she gets when what she considers a brilliant idea dawns on her. "I've got it!"

"You figured out who you hate more?" asked Slytherin.

"No!" exclaimed Cadance. "You wrote a letter to General Mills saying you were getting bored with the Aurors he was sending. Why don't you let me and Pettigrew decide our fate with the clashing of swords? I assure you, it's never boring."

Slytherin cocked his eyebrow and Pettigrew. "You have fought each other before, Wormtail?" he asked.

"Quite a few times," said Pettigrew.

"What do you think of the proposition?" he asked.

"Fine," said Wormtail.

"What are your terms, Cadance?" asked Slytherin.

"If I win, you let us all go back to Hogwarts," said Cadance.

"The other Aurors from the mission," whispered Harry to Cadance.

"Including the other Aurors you caught today," added Cadance with a nod to Harry. "And if he wins, I stay here and everyone else goes home."

"If he wins, you all stay here," said Slytherin. "And including the other Aurors in this hardly seems fair to me. The deal is simply for you, Potter, and your daughter."

"_Alright_," said Cadance rolling her eyes.

Harry grabbed her forearm and she turned to him. "We won't leave without them. Don't worry," whispered Cadance barely audibly. Harry nodded. She stepped forward and shook Slytherin's hand. "Deal."

"Ah, but one more thing," said Slytherin, a coy smile playing on his features. "Leverage. Bring them in!" Two of the Death Eaters that had come in with Pettigrew bowed out and returned less than a minute later dragging two people behind them. Cadance, Harry, and Melinda's eyes grew wide.

It was Cadance who recovered the ability to speak first. "Cati! Sirius!" she exclaimed and took a step towards them. And indeed, Cadance was not seeing things. Cati and Sirius were being dragged into the room, very much alive.

"Don't move, Cadance," said Slytherin.

"I want to amend the deal to include them," said Cadance.

"I wouldn't include nine prisoners. What makes you think that I'm going to include them?" asked Slytherin. He turned to his Death Eaters. "Take all four of them and stand them over by the table so they're out of the way. And make sure you keep your eyes on them."

Cati and Sirius's hands were bound in front of them. As they were ushered towards the table along with Harry and Melinda, Cati tried to wave to Cadance using her elbow. They were pushed roughly into chairs.

"Hey, Melinda, how ya doing?" asked Sirius pleasantly. "Hey, Harry."

"You're alive," said Harry in disbelief.

"Yeah," said Cati. "So it would appear. This has been a real bonding experience for me and Sirius."

"These chairs aren't as comfortable as the ones at Hogwarts," said Sirius looking around.

"Does Mom know how to do this?" asked Melinda nervously.

"Know how to do what?" asked Cati.

"She's bargained for our freedom based on the outcome of a swordfight between her and Pettigrew," explained Harry.

"Oh, don't worry," said Cati. "She's got this."

Slytherin snapped his fingers and two swords appeared floating midair between Cadance and Pettigrew. Cadance reached out and took the sword. She fumbled it in her hand and immediately dropped it.

"But then again," said Cati thoughtfully, "She hasn't raised a sword in… when was the last time we defeated Voldemort?"

"Almost 19 years ago," deadpanned Sirius.

"We're screwed," sighed Harry.

Cadance reached down and picked up the sword. "Begin!" exclaimed Slytherin.

The sword fight was over in record time. Pettigrew was able to trip Cadance as she was blocking a hit. She was lying flat on her back, with Pettigrew's blade inches from her face in just under three minutes.

"Rematch!" exclaimed Cadance. "I was just getting warmed up!"

Slytherin sighed. "Eh, alright," he said. "I'm still a little bored."

"I want to modify the agreement to include Cati and Sirius," said Cadance.

"I don't know about that," said Slytherin.

"Think of it this way," said Cadance. "If I win, Cati's out of your hair."

Everyone looked to Cati. She grinned broadly. "You've got a point," muttered Slytherin. "If you're getting more out of this deal, I should get more, too, though."

"I'll throw in the Book of Light," said Cadance.

"Cadance!" rebuked Sirius.

"Deal," said Slytherin. "When you lose, I'll have a Death Eater escort you back to Hogwarts to retrieve the book and bring it back here."

"That's fine," said Cadance. "But I won't lose." They walked towards each other and shook on it.

"Mom," said Melinda. "When you go back to get the book, will you tell Chris I'm sorry. I said some awful things…"

"You'll be able to tell him yourself," said Cadance. "Have some faith in your old mum." She turned her attention back to Slytherin. "One more thing, Slytherin: I want to take my daughter home exactly as I sent her to you. Where are my hat and belt and her wand? And anything that Cati and Sirius had on them as well."

Slytherin snapped his fingers and three wands, Cadance's belt, and Cadance's hat all appeared in a pile on the floor at Slytherin's feet.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road," said Cadance, cracking a half smile. She turned to face her sword, which lay on the floor near where she had fallen. She held out her arm and the sword zoomed into her outstretched hand. She threw the sword up in the air, it made one full rotation and she gracefully caught it with her other hand.

Slytherin's mouth hung open for a second. "Wait… you…" he said in an attempt to put a sentence together.

The second sword fight was indeed much less boring. Cadance matched Pettigrew, blow for blow, expertly.

Cati laughed hysterically. "You just got hustled!" she exclaimed at Slytherin, as Cadance knocked Pettigrew's sword out of his hands. She was about to declare herself the winner by knocking him down, when he dove to the ground of his own accord. He rolled over to his sword and sprang up with it in his hands, and the fight continued.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Hogwarts, Jen had barely waited five minutes before she ran back into Cadance, Charlie, and Bill's Common Room to unfreeze Charlie. She had just sent a quick note to Arthur at the Ministry and expected he would come as soon as he got it. When she unfroze Charlie, he jumped a little in surprise to see Jen, not Cadance, standing in front of him. 

"Jen, where's…" began Charlie.

"She froze you," interrupted Jen. "I was supposed to wait 10 minutes to unfreeze you, but I came instead as soon as I was sure she was gone."

"Where did she go?" asked Charlie.

"She was going to Slytherin's lair," said Jen. "I convinced her to take Harry with her at least."

"Why did you let her go!" exclaimed Charlie. "She was going to trade herself for Melinda!"

"I figured she would try something like that," said Jen. "That's why I sent Harry with her. He won't let her."

"At the mercy of Slytherin, he won't have a choice," said Charlie rubbing his forehead.

"Let's go alert the Order," said Jen. "I told Cadance I wouldn't, but I didn't intend to keep that promise."

"We have to act quickly," said Charlie. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Book of Light lying open on the coffee table. It was opened to the page that contained a spell to create a door. "What was Cadance's plan?" he asked urgently.

"I don't know," said Jen. "She was copying down a spell when we came in."

"This spell?" asked Charlie.

Jen glanced over. "I guess so," said Jen. "I wasn't really paying attention."

"If she created a door, where would she do that?" asked Charlie.

"I would think that she would do it in here," said Jen looking around. "She was trying to be secretive, so it would have to be somewhere that she didn't think anyone would go. The entire Order's in the Meeting Room, and by now all the students should be in their Common Rooms because the new curfew keeps them in there starting at 7:00 and it's already 8:30."

"You're rambling a bit," said Charlie. "Where would she put a door?"

"I told you, she would probably do it in here," said Jen. "Or maybe in her…" She trailed off and looked at Charlie.

"Classroom," they both finished.

"Let's go," said Charlie. They both ran the entire way. As they neared Cadance's classroom, they didn't notice Molly and James standing in the hallway, staring at them strangely, or the still-glowing outline of the door on the wall. They by-passed this and kept going a few more yards down the hallway and ran into Cadance's classroom.

"Did they just completely ignore us?" asked Molly confusedly.

"This has been the strangest day of my entire life," said James shaking his head.

"What about that day a few summers ago when we walked in on Dobby singing _Cabaret_ and dancing around your kitchen?" asked Molly.

"Molly," said James. "We're guarding a magical glowing door in a hallway. Aunt Jen and Uncle Charlie, who probably realize we're out of the Common Room after curfew, just ran by without even acknowledging us. This beats House Elves and show tunes."

"Good point," said Molly.

Just then, Jen and Charlie stuck their heads out of Cadance's classroom and pointed at Molly and James. They both had confused looks on their faces. "What are you…?" asked Jen.

Molly and James exchanged a glance. Charlie sighed. "What did Cadance tell you to do?" he asked. "Is this the door?"

They glanced at the glowing outline of the door. "Uhhh… no," said James. "It's a… it's art."

But Charlie and Jen, obviously not believing him, walked up to it. They started pushing on it, trying to make it move. "How does it open?" Charlie asked James and Molly.

"Aunt Cadance said to close it," said Molly. "It gets pushed open from the other side." Charlie tried to get a grip to pry it open, but it was no use.

"What else did she say?" asked Charlie.

"Just that the door would go to Slytherin's lair," said James. "And if they're not back within an hour that we should throw this potion at it." He pulled it out of his pocket and showed Charlie. "It will erase it."

"How long ago was this?" asked Charlie.

"About ten minutes," said Molly.

"Go back to the Common Room, you two," said Charlie.

"Not fair!" exclaimed James. "We finally get included on cool stuff that's going on around here and we don't even get to stay!"

"This isn't a game, James," said Charlie firmly.

"I didn't say it was!" argued James.

"Charlie, maybe they _can_ help," said Jen softly putting a hand on Charlie's shoulder.

"How?" asked Charlie border-line irritably.

"I don't know," said Jen. "But they're 15. When I was 15, Cadance never kept me in the dark with anything."

"Oh yeah?" asked Charlie. "She never told you that you're related to _Merlin_. She purposefully kept that information from you to protect you. And now I'm keeping Molly and James out of this before they get hurt. Cadance had no right…"

Jen waved her hand at Charlie and he froze. "I'm beginning to see why Cadance froze him earlier," said Jen. "Who slapped him with a McGonagall stick?"

"What are we going to do, Aunt Jen?" asked Molly.

"Well, you two are going to stay here and do exactly what Aunt Cadance told you," said Jen. "And Uncle Charlie is going to stay frozen for a while until he's pulled the stick out of his ass."

"What are _you_ going to do?" asked James.

"I suppose I'm going to everyone else and letting them know what's going on," said Jen.

"Aunt Cadance said not to tell anyone," said James.

"James, I've got a little bit of advice for you," said Jen. "Don't do everything your Aunt Cadance tells you. Now, be careful. I'll be back as soon as I can."

They nodded at her and she hurried off down the hallway. When she got to the meeting room, everyone stopped talking amongst themselves to look at her. Wyatt and Chris had arrived and were present as well. "Well?" asked Minerva. "Where is everyone else? And what took you so long."

"Well, Cadance… ummm… Charlie is in front of Cadance's classroom. Harry… is… well… And Arthur is at the Ministry keeping an eye on things," said Jen almost forming complete sentences.

"What?" asked Wyatt confusedly. Everyone was staring at her strangely.

"Well, Cadance went… and then Charlie… I had to freeze him naturally… and Harry is… Arthur's at the Ministry," said Jen quickly.

"You froze Charlie?" asked McGonagall.

"Outside of Cadance's classroom," said Jen.

"Is Cadance with him?" asked Moody.

"No, James and Molly are," said Jen. "Cadance… and Harry…"

"Jen!" exclaimed Bill with frustration. "Where _are_ they!"

"And why are Molly and James with Charlie in front of Cadance's classroom?" asked Ginny.

"And are they frozen, too?" asked Hermione. "Because I worry what the psychological effect of that will have on my daughter."

"No, they're not frozen," said Jen. "They're guarding the door. _Charlie_ is frozen, because he was annoying me."

"Guarding the door to Cadance's classroom?" asked George. "What the hell is going on in there?"

"Nothing," said Jen. "They're not guarding that door. They're guarding the door to Slytherin's lair."

Everyone just stared at her. "What are you _talking about_?" asked Arabella.

"Talk Weasley!" exclaimed Bill. He picked her up and flipped her upside-down.

"AHHH!" exclaimed Jen. "Put me down!"

"Er… Bill?" asked Remus. "Are you sure this is the best way to handle the situation?"

"Bill, put my niece down, please," said Dumbledore calmly.

"I will put her down when she starts making sense," said Bill.

"Cadance drew a door on the wall by her classroom and she opened it into Slytherin's lair and she and Harry went through it and now Molly and James are guarding it and Charlie's frozen because he had a stick up his ass and Arthur's at the Ministry!" exclaimed Jen. "Put me down before so much blood rushes to my head that it gushes out my ears!"

Bill flipped her back around and sat her gently on the ground. He started to head towards the door, but Dumbledore stopped him. "Wait, Bill," said Dumbledore. "We can't all just run off to see this door. And if Cadance and Harry _are_ in Slytherin's lair, he could retaliate by sending people to attack Hogwarts or Hogsmeade or Godric's Hollow. Arabella, I want you to go to the Ministry with Arthur. Chris and Wyatt, I want you to go with Arabella and then after she sees Arthur I want you to go to Melinda's boyfriend and tell him what we think is happening."

"But…" argued Chris.

"Just do it," said Dumbledore shooting him a look. Chris immediately shut up, though rather dejectedly. Dumbledore continued. "Godric, Helga, and Rowena, I want you to go to Godric's Hollow and keep watch. Take Fawkes with you and send him back to us if you need help. I want Merlin, Severus, Bill, Ginny, Jen, and George to come with me to see this door. The rest of you should patrol the grounds between Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. If we hear any news on our end, we'll alert you immediately."

Everyone took their orders in stride, and got up to head off to where Dumbledore had told him. He headed with Merlin, Severus, Bill, Ginny, Jen, and George towards Cadance's classroom. They walked in silence until the reached the hallway and saw Charlie (still frozen), Molly and James (sitting with their backs against the wall), and the door (on the wall opposite Molly and James). "Is this it?" asked Dumbledore, moving to stand in front of it.

"Yes, sir," said James scrambling to his feet, and then offering Molly and helping hand.

"What do we do now?" asked Jen.

"We wait," said Dumbledore unfreezing Charlie.

* * *

As Cadance and Pettigrew's battle continued, Slytherin continued to watch from his throne and, behind him and off to one side, Harry, Melinda, Cati, and Sirius watched from their seats at the long table. The table was positioned between them and Slytherin's throne, and three Death Eaters stood behind them. Cati and Sirius still had their hands bound together in front of them. Cati squirmed in her chair, trying to free her hands, causing one of the Death Eaters to continuously reprimand her. 

Then, something happened that surprised everyone; everyone, that is, but Cati. Cadance knocked Pettigrew's sword out of his hand. She waved her free hand at the sword, using her telekinetic powers to slide the sword away. Instead of knocking Pettigrew over, declaring herself the winner, she turned towards Slytherin's throne. As Pettigrew ran to grab his sword, Cadance held her hand out in front of her with the palm facing upwards. Again using her telekinetic powers, she summoned the knife out of the belt that Slytherin had confiscated from Melinda and was currently laying next to his throne. Slytherin stood, but it was too late. She already had her hands around the knife. Slytherin drew his wand, ready to defend himself, but Cadance ignored him.

She threw the knife directly at Cati. Melinda, Harry, and Sirius's eyes grew wide with confusion, and stayed that way even after the knife hit the table directly in front of Cati. The blade was stuck into the wood at an angle, and the knife was sticking up. Cati hopped up and lunged forward. She pulled her hands as far apart as they would go and with her forearms resting on the table she used the knife, still sticking out of the table, to cut the ropes around her wrist. It took only a second to accomplish her goal, and by the time the Death Eaters behind her knew what was going on, she had pulled the knife out of the table and turned around. They drew their wands, and one grabbed Melinda and held his wand to her throat. "Melinda, don't move," said Cati. She turned her head a little so she could see Cadance.

Pettigrew had recovered his sword and he and Cadance were now going at it again. Slytherin still had his wand drawn and at the ready. Harry and Sirius didn't move, but Harry's hand rested near his pocket so he could quickly draw his wand when the opportunity presented itself. He had pocketed it when the Death Eaters had first entered to avoid having it confiscated. "Cadance!" exclaimed Cati. "I need a little help over here!"

"I'm a little busy at the moment, Cati," said Cadance in between blocks. "Do you think you can handle it?"

Cati looked at the knife in her hand. "Let's see. One knife against three wands, with your daughter held hostage," said Cati, thinking aloud. "I'll think of something." She leaned back against the table and wrapped her hands around the edge of it. She winked at Harry and then flipped the table over. In the same instant, she dove behind it, putting the table between her and the Death Eaters. Two of the Death Eaters fired spells at her, but they missed and hit the table.

From behind the table, Cati used her own telekinetic powers to summon all of their wands to her. She pocketed all but her own. She hopped up and aimed her wand at Melinda's captor. At the same time, Sirius and Harry jumped up. Harry quickly drew his wand and pointed it at one of the Death Eaters. Sirius kicked his chair at the other one, who promptly stumbled a little and fell.

The Death Eater who held Melinda roughly shoved her at Cati, and attempted to fire a spell at the both of them. However, he underestimated Cati's reflexes. She grabbed Melinda and dropped to the floor, dodging the spell as Harry stunned the third Death Eater. Cati quickly cut the ropes around Sirius's wrists and then passed him and Melinda their wands. They then used them to stun and tie up the remaining two Death Eaters.

At that same moment, Cadance knocked Pettigrew's wand out of his hands again, and as he went to pick it up, she brought her heel down on his hand, pinning it to the floor. She shoved the tip of her sword under his chin. Pettigrew raised his free hand in a sign of surrendering. Cadance kicked his sword out of the way. She pulled him roughly to his feet and held the blade against his throat. "I win, Slytherin!" she called.

"_Crucio_!" exclaimed Slytherin.

Cadance, however, didn't scream in pain. She didn't even look pained. "We made a bargain, Slytherin. We shook on it. We entered into a magical agreement," she said. "Magic is neutral and is making sure you keep your end of the bargain. Your magic won't work on us until you let us out."

"Over my dead body," spat Slytherin. He clapped his hands and the doors to the room opened. 10 Death Eaters poured in. "I may not be able to stop you, but they can." Pettigrew, meanwhile, scurried to Slytherin's side. Cati, Melinda, Harry, and Sirius strode up to Cadance.

"Is this it?" asked Cati. "Oh, we'll be home within ten minutes."

"Melinda, do you know where the other Aurors are?" asked Cadance.

"Yes," answered Melinda.

"When we give you the opening, you need to run out of here and get them," said Cadance. "Bring them back up here."

Melinda nodded. The ten Death Eaters and the five witches and wizards began to circle each other. "Okay, here's the plan," said Cati. "Melinda, head for the door. The rest of us can each take two…"

"Cati, that math doesn't add up," said Sirius. "If Melinda's gone, there's four of us and ten Death Eaters."

"You didn't let me _finish_," said Cati frustratingly. "The first two to finish can take the last two."

"Right, because they're just going to wait in line until someone's done to come and take care of them," said Harry sarcastically.

"Well, we've been standing here outnumbered and talking for a full thirty seconds so far and none of them has done anything yet," said Cati.

"Yes, but I think once we get into this…" began Cadance. Then she shook her head. "Never mind, we don't have time; Molly and James will close the door soon. We'll figure something out." She stepped forward a little and randomly pointed her wand at one of them. "_Stupefy!_" The Death Eater blocked the spell, but barely.

Spells were being fired left and right. "Head for the door, Melinda," said Cati as she blocked a spell. "We'll cover you."

Two Death Eaters tried to take a shot at Melinda as she ran for the door, but Cadance and Cati managed to stun them as their back were turned. Cati almost got hit by a spell sent from another Death Eater as she did this, but Sirius grabbed her and they both ducked the spell just in time. "Okay, two down," said Harry as Melinda dove out of sight and ran down the hallway.

"Three!" exclaimed Sirius as his spell hit a Death Eater, knocking him out.

Cadance dodged a spell as she fired another one. It, too, hit its mark. "Four!" she called. Suddenly she felt herself blasted off her feet. She hit the wall and slumped to the floor.

"Cadance!" exclaimed Cati, she tried to turn to her friend, but she couldn't turn her attention away from the Death Eaters without putting herself at risk. Harry dodged a spell and skidded over to Cadance. He helped her to her feet. Her head hurt, and she rubbed it.

"Where did that…?" she began to ask.

Harry nodded over to where Sirius and Pettigrew were engaging in a duel. They had forgotten that Pettigrew had been behind them. They joined back into the battle as Cati stunned another Death Eater. "Five down, five to go," said Harry firing a spell.

"Six," corrected Cadance. "You forgot about Pettigrew."

"I think Sirius is going to take care of that," said Harry blocking another spell.

Cadance and Cati both fired a spell at the same Death Eater. He couldn't block both and he, too, was stunned. The four remaining Death Eaters battled it out with Cadance, Cati, and Harry for a while, as Pettigrew and Sirius continued their battle. Slytherin could do nothing but watch in a state of frustration.

"_Expelliarmus_!" cried one of the Death Eaters.

Cati was blasted off her feet and her wand went flying. However, at precisely that moment Melinda rushed in with nine other Aurors behind her. "_Accio _wand!" exclaimed Melinda pointer her wand at Cati's. It zoomed towards her and she snatched it out of the air.

The nine Aurors pointed their wands, which had been recovered by Melinda from the Death Eater guarding them before she stunned him, at four remaining Death Eaters, who had no choice but to pocket their wands and raise their arms in defeat. Melinda tossed Cati her wand. Cadance flicked her wand at one of the Suits of Armor standing along the wall. It creaked a bit and then started walking towards Slytherin, who fired spells at it but to no avail; they just bounced off the armor. It grabbed Slytherin and pinned his arms to his sides with one arm and put his free hand on top of his head.

"What!" exclaimed Slytherin.

"Sirius, you ready?" asked Cadance as some of the Aurors tied up the four Death Eaters.

"Almost, Cadance," said Sirius blocking one of Pettigrew's spells.

"Quit messing around and stun him," said Cadance as she walked up to Slytherin, who still could only glare at her evilly.

"Oh, alright," sighed Sirius. "_Stupefy_!" Pettigrew hit the floor. "I was rather enjoying messing with him though."

Cadance and Slytherin stared each other down for a few seconds. Then Cadance bent down to pick up the belt and hat that were still lying at his feet, beside the throne. She stood back up and put the hat on her head and the belt around her waist. She smiled sweetly and patted his shoulder before turning around and walking back to the group. "One day, Cadance Dumbledore," spat Slytherin. "One day you will pay." Cadance turned around and tipped her hat at Slytherin. Suddenly the Suit of Armor began to give Slytherin a noogie.

And the large group proceeded to leave as Slytherin shouted profanities after them.

They went into the hallway. "The door to Hogwarts is behind that tapestry," said Cadance pointing.

"What?" asked Melinda.

"Eh, we created a door in the hallway by my classroom," said Cadance. "I'll explain later."

"Let's go home," said Harry putting his arms around Cati and Sirius's shoulders.

Just then the doors to the castle opened, and none other than Voldemort himself entered with a cry of frustration, flanked by five Death Eaters. "YOU!" he exclaimed. "I knew it!"

"Because today hasn't been eventful enough," said Cadance snapping her fingers. The tapestry disappeared and the glowing outline of the door was revealed. "Hurry." She pushed one of the Aurors at the door. He pushed it open and fell through it, disappearing.

"Keep going!" exclaimed Harry as he and Voldemort squared off.

Cati and Sirius were pushing Aurors threw the door. "We don't have time for this, Harry," said Cadance as she and Melinda both raised their wands as well.

"Yeah, and I want a shower!" exclaimed Cati.

"Yeah, and real food!" exclaimed Sirius as they ushered the last Auror through the blackness of the door into the safety of Hogwarts. They both then raised their wands.

The five Death Eaters and Voldemort, all with wands raised as well, stood their ground, ready to fight.

"I'm _tired_ of fighting today," whined Cati. "Let's just go home."

"I knew it," said Voldemort angrily, more to himself than to anyone else. "I knew you had to be here trying to break them out as soon as the first reconnaissance group told me that they had that Weasley brat captured and then the second one failed to report. Nobody move." Cati immediately began to flail her arms and hop up and down. "You see, Nuperson. _This_ is precisely why I had you moved from _my_ lair to _Slytherin's_. You drive me nuts!"

"We'll end this _now, _Voldemort," hissed Harry.

"No, you won't," said Cadance. She roughly shoved Melinda, and she fell through the door. Then Cadance ducked as a Death Eater fired a spell at her because she had moved. "Let's go!" She snapped her fingers and a Suit of Armor next to Voldemort sprang to life and grabbed his wand arm.

Sirius ushered Cadance and Cati through the door and then grabbed Harry by the sleeve of his robes and dragged him through, just as Voldemort blew up the Suit of Armor. As Harry and Sirius emerged into the hallway of Hogwarts, they tripped over Cadance and Cati who had tripped over each other. They all landed in a pile on the floor.

They heard Voldemort shrieking from the other side of the door, but could only see black. Sirius hopped up and threw his weight against the door, pushing it shut. James quickly tossed the potion that he had been holding since Cadance handed it to him almost an hour ago. It hit the wall and in a small burst of light, the door vanished.

"CATI! SIRIUS!" exclaimed Jen. She emitted an ear-piercing shriek.

It was only at this point that Cadance, Cati, Sirius, and Harry twisted their heads around to look into the faces of Dumbledore, Merlin, Charlie, Severus, Bill, Ginny, Jen, George, Arthur, and Pete Mills. Arthur and Mills had just arrived and were not yet completely briefed on what they had missed. Needless to say, they were shocked when nine missing Aurors came flying through a black hole in the wall, followed by Melinda, then Cadance, Cati, Sirius, and Harry. Melinda and the other missing Aurors were standing off to the side, with young Molly and James.

Melinda was grinning broadly, as Cati and Sirius were pulled almost violently to their feet by Bill and George. Bill pulled his wife into a big hug and kissed her for quite a while before passing her off to everyone else. Sirius, too, was being passed around. Millions of questions were flying through the air. Harry dragged himself to his feet as Charlie helped Cadance up.

Mills strode forward and said, "Excellent work, you two", as he shook Harry's hand. When he let go, Harry slid his arm around Ginny's waist and kissed her forehead as Mills moved on to shake Cadance's hand. "I don't even _like_ you and I think you did an excellent job. And that's saying something."

Charlie slid his arm around his wife's waist. "Later on, we're going to talk about the fact that you froze me," he said.

Cati pulled away from Jen, who she was hugging at the moment. "CADANCE!" she exclaimed. She threw her arms out to the side. "HUG ME, DAMNIT!"

Cadance virtually jumped on Cati, causing them both to fall to the floor. George jumped out of the way just in time. "What the hell took you so long?" asked Cati.

"Well, you were being hugged by all the nice people we surprised and I felt it would be rude to just jump in…"

"No, not that, you idiot!" exclaimed Cati. "What took you so long to come get me and Sirius! Geez, woman!"

"I was busy!" exclaimed Cadance.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" screamed Cati sarcastically. "The next time I get kidnapped, I'll make sure it works with your schedule." She rolled Cadance over and pinned her.

"That'd be nice!" laughed Cadance shoving her off.

Just then, Arabella came around the corner. "Arthur, everyone's getting nervous at the Ministry. Maybe you should…" She froze as realization dawned on her. She looked from Arthur to Cadance and Cati on the floor to Sirius to Melinda to the nine other Aurors. "Holy Hell."

**End Chapter>>**

**Please Review!**


	18. Jen LIES and other fun things

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as anyone else's. I'm getting awful tired of writing this.

A/N: **Please Review!**

"We need some sort of order around here!" exclaimed Arthur over the noise in the hallway. Once Arabella recovered from the shock of seeing Cati and Sirius alive, everyone began talking really loudly and excitedly. Sirius was trying to get someone to tell him where Wendy was. General Mills was talking to all ten Aurors, Melinda included, who were on the mission. Arabella and Dumbledore were getting the full story about what had gone on in Slytherin's lair from Cadance and Harry, who weren't making much sense because they kept going off on completely unrelated tangents because Cati would interrupt with random interjections. Everyone pretty much ignored Arthur's call for order.

"Excuse me! Hello!" exclaimed Arthur. "We need…" He stopped abruptly and threw his hands in the air, giving up.

"SILENCE!" exclaimed Merlin very loudly. Everyone stopped talking and stared at Merlin.

"Er… Thank you, Merlin," said Arthur. "We need some order. Sirius and Cati are tired, they're hungry, and they want to see the rest of their family. We need to get these Aurors back to the Ministry. We need to inform the rest of the Order of what happened."

"Where is the rest of the Order?" asked Cadance.

"You're in charge! Why don't you know!" exclaimed Cati.

"I was busy saving your sorry ass," said Cadance.

"Alright, that's enough, you two," said Arthur. "Let's start with Cati and Sirius…"

"I want a shower!" exclaimed Cati.

"We want you to have a shower, too," said Cadance. She had to duck behind Charlie to avoid being hit by Cati.

"I want to find Wendy before I do anything else," said Sirius.

"Ohh, yeah, I want to see Vivien!" added Cati.

"Alright, alright," said Arthur. "Do what you have to do. I want to take the Aurors from the mission back to the Ministry. Arabella, I want you to join me. Cadance, why don't you go find Minerva and the rest of the Order? They're outside patrolling between here and Hogsmeade."

"And then let's all meet up in the Great Hall," added Cadance. "I think it's time for a celebration of sorts."

"Good idea," said Merlin. "I'll go alert the kitchens. Someone should go to Godric's Hollow to get Godric, Rowena, and Helga."

"Jen and I will go," offered Hermione. "We should go and get Joseph, Abby, and Fred. Dobby's watching them."

"Okay, let's go," said Arthur. Cadance and Cati saluted him, grinning broadly.

* * *

Everyone went their separate ways. Cati and Bill headed to Gryffindor Tower to find Vivien. Arthur, Arabella, Melinda, Mills, and the nine other Aurors headed into the Ministry. Merlin headed for the kitchens. Jen and Hermione went to Godric's Hollow. Cadance headed outside to find Minerva and the rest of the Order, and Sirius joined her so he could find Wendy.

They opened the door and stepped out into the cold night air. "Where are they?" wondered Cadance out loud.

"Cadance, is that you?" asked a voice from somewhere to their left. It sounded like it came from the other side of a stone gargoyle.

"_Lumos_," said Cadance, igniting her wand and turning in the direction they heard the voice come from just in time to see Wendy step out into their line of vision.

"Hey, Wend'," said Sirius casually. Wendy stared at both of them with wide eyes.

"Sirius?" said Wendy. It was more of a statement of disbelief than a question. Her legs gave out and Sirius took a step forward and caught her, and held her up. "You're alive?"

"Yeah, I'm alive," said Sirius smiling. She threw his arms around his neck and started sobbing. Sirius stroked her hair and rested his chin on her head.

"Aw, that's cute," said Cadance cocking her head to one side. "I'll leave you two alone." They pretty much took no notice of the fact that she was there or leaving, which is rather understandable when you think about it. She hurried down the front stairs and began looking around for other Order members. It was pitch black outside and the light from her wand wasn't helping much.

She stuck her thumb and her middle finger into her mouth and whistled loudly. About a second later, two or three whistles responded. A few seconds later, she heard footsteps hurrying towards her. Soon Molly and Minerva were standing next to her.

"You're back, dear!" exclaimed Molly, pulling Cadance into a hug.

"Who is hugging Wendy?" asked Minerva, peering up the stairs.

"That's Sirius," said Cadance.

"What?" asked McGonagall, stunned.

"Yeah, you know how we've lost two Order members in less than a year?" asked Cadance.

"Yes," said Molly.

"Yeah, well, they're both back," said Cadance.

"And Melinda?" asked McGonagall.

"Safe and sound," answered Cadance.

"The other Aurors?" asked McGonagall.

Cadance nodded. "All alive," she answered. "We're all meeting up in the Great Hall."

McGonagall pulled out her wand and shot red sparks into the sky. "You should have shot green sparks," said Molly. "You told everyone to shoot up _red_ sparks if they ran into trouble and _green_ sparks to collect everyone in one place."

"Yes, but if I knew if I sent up _red_ sparks they would move faster than if I sent up green ones," said McGonagall.

"She's got a point," said Cadance. "Will you two wait here for the Order? I want to go to the Great Hall and see Charlie. He's a little mad at me because I froze him earlier."

"What should we tell them?" asked McGonagall.

"Well it would be fun to tell them that Voldemort and Slytherin are inside, sipping tea, and waiting to settle everything over a friendly game of Candyland but the truth is generally preferable to lies," said Cadance.

"Must you always be such a smartass?" asked McGonagall as Cadance turned and walked up the stairs to the front door. She re-entered the castle and went to the Great Hall. Dumbledore, Harry, Ginny, and Charlie were sitting in the Great Hall.

"Minerva's gathering the Order," said Cadance. "Wendy and Sirius found each other."

"That's good," said Harry.

"So…" said Cadance taking a seat next to Charlie. "Tonight was fun."

"Yeah, but let's not do it again," said Harry.

"Well, we're going to _have_ to do it again," said Cadance. "So you can vanquish Voldemort."

"Oh yeah," said Harry, scratching his head. "Let's _not_ do that this time. It didn't work well for us the last two times."

"Third time is a charm, pumpkin," said Cadance.

"Alright, but this is the absolute _last time_," said Harry.

"Well, I can't promise you anything," said Cadance.

"Bite your tongue," said Charlie.

Just then there was a swirl of lights beside the table and Chris orbed in. "Look, Professor Dumbledore," he began. "I've _tried_ to find Fancy Pants but I just _can't_. Wyatt is going to keep looking but…" He stopped as he noticed that Harry and Cadance were also sitting there. "Hey, you're back! What happened?"

"Who's Fancy Pants?" asked Cadance cocking an eyebrow.

"Melinda's boyfriend. It's my new nickname for him. I just thought it up," said Chris.

"Cadance, while you were gone, I sent him and Wyatt to find… er… Fancy Pants," explained Dumbledore.

"Well, what happened?" asked Chris.

"Melinda is fine and so are the other Aurors," said Cadance. "They're at the Ministry right now."

"Thank god," said Chris as McGonagall hurried in with most of the Order behind her.

"You two!" exclaimed Moody as he pushed past McGonagall. "You had us worried sick!"

"We were constantly vigilant!" exclaimed Cadance. "Don't even pretend to be mad at us!"

"I _am_ mad!" exclaimed Moody gruffly. Cadance and Harry both jumped a little.

"We saved ten Aurors, one of them being my daughter!" argued Cadance. "AND we virtually brought Cati and Sirius back from the dead!"

"What?" asked Chris.

"Oh yeah, Cati and Sirius weren't dead. They're here now," said Harry.

"This is a lot of information to absorb in a small amount of time," said Chris.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Slytherin's lair…

"You just _couldn't_ resist, could you?" asked Voldemort to Slytherin. Slytherin and all of the Death Eaters who had their asses kicked throughout Cadance and Harry's little escapade were standing in a line in Slytherin's Great Hall as Voldemort paced in front of them. "I told you to _never_, _ever_ take anyone related to Cadance by blood as a hostage while Cati was in your custody. She would _know_ if you did. And do you remember what I told you about Cadance and Cati?"

"Cadance plus Cati equals trouble," said Slytherin a little dejectedly. "But I just thought…"

"No, you _didn't_ think," interrupted Voldemort. "And now we lost Cati and Black as our prisoners. We could have used them as leverage later. _Why_ can't anything ever go right around here? It's like I'm working with idiots!"

Slytherin narrowed his eyes and pointed at Voldemort. "Watch it."

"And _what_ gave you the idea that Pettigrew and Cadance could settle this over a _sword fight_?" asked Voldemort angrily. "That's mental!"

"Well, I _asked_ him if he had done it before!" argued Slytherin.

"But did you ask him if he had ever _won_!" asked Voldemort.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in the Great Hall, the Order was bubbling as they waited for Sirius and Cati, who went to go shower, and Melinda, Arthur, and Arabella, who were still at the Ministry. Bill had brought Vivien, Molly, and James from the Gryffindor Common Room to the Great Hall to wait. Wendy was there as well. Sirius was using her room to shower. Jen, Hermione, and Ginny had all returned from Godric's Hollow with Godric, Rowena, Helga, Joseph, Abby, and Fred. The young ones were sleepy, and it was hard to explain to Joseph and Fred that Cati and Sirius weren't dead. They needed to see for themselves to understand.

"But Mom," whined Fred to Jen. "You told me that they were dead and they weren't coming back!"

Jen gave an exasperated sigh. "No, Fred, I… Oh alright. I lied."

"Who lied?" asked a voice from the doorway as Cati walked in.

"AUNT CATI!" exclaimed Joseph and Fred excitedly. They ran at Cati and slid into her legs, each attaching to one.

"Aunt Cati, Mommy LIED!" exclaimed Fred.

"Where were you?" asked Joseph.

"Oh, we don't have to get into that," said Cati reaching down and prying them off her legs.

"Mommy LIED!" exclaimed Fred.

"_Honestly_, Jen, what _were_ you thinking?" asked Cati shaking her head.

"GRANDMA! Mommy lied!" exclaimed Fred. "You told me that it's not nice to lie! You told me that liars don't get cookies! Don't give Mommy any cookies!"

"But I like Molly's cookies!" argued Jen. She paused. "Why am I arguing with my five-year-old?"

"Because you LIED," said Cadance matching Fred's tone.

Just then, Sirius walked in. "UNCLE SIRIUS!" exclaimed Fred and Joseph running over and attaching themselves to Sirius the same way the attached themselves to Cati.

"Hey, little guys," said Sirius, reaching down and picking them both up and tucking one under each arm.

"Mommy LIED!" exclaimed Fred.

"Alright, alright!" exclaimed Jen. "That's enough of that!"

"But where did you go!" asked Joseph.

Sirius paused. "Why don't you two go play?" he said putting them down and joining the rest of the group, where he was greeted enthusiastically.

"So where _were_ you two?" asked Kala.

"Haven't you been listening?" asked Bill.

"Well, I only got part of the story, and it was from Jen and she LIES," said Kala.

"You're treading a fine line," said Jen pointing at Kala.

"Come on!" exclaimed Kala. "I _HAVE_ to know! The facts just don't add up for me!"

"What?" asked Cadance confused.

"It's like I have this math problem: Two plus two equals nine," said Kala. "I'm missing five! It could be a 2 and 3 or it could be two 2's and a 1 or it could be five 1's or it could be..."

"For the love of God, someone start answering her so she stops talking or I'm going to go into my office and drink the entire bottle of brandy that's in my desk," interrupted McGonagall as she rubbed her temples.

"Well, what is left for us to tell you, Kala," said Sirius. "We were in Slytherin's lair, and now we're not."

"But how did you _get_ there?" exclaimed Kala. She pointed at Sirius. "Your house burned down!" Then she pointed at Cati. "Cadance had a premonition that you _died_! We got your wedding ring! It doesn't add up! Where's the five!"

"Oh please tell her where the five is," deadpanned McGonagall.

"Alright, well, I guess we should start from the beginning," said Sirius. "I was taken in July. Wendy had just left to go to the store when my kitchen filled with Death Eaters. They outnumbered me and there was nothing I could do. They hit me a frying pan or a pot or something and I blacked out and when I came to I was in a dungeon. Voldemort came in later. He told me he set fire to the house and that everyone thought I was dead. He kept trying to get me to tell him what the Order was up to."

"What did you tell him?" asked Cadance.

"I couldn't tell him anything," said Sirius. "We _weren't_ up to _anything_."

"Yes, and let me take a moment to assure everyone that _that_ is about to change," said Cadance.

"Is this like the time in our 5th Year when you assured me that the rope that we were using to sneak out of the window of a classroom on the second story _wouldn't_ slip off the table leg we were using as an anchor and I got halfway down it when it _did_ and I fell the rest of the way out of the window?" asked Cati.

Cadance cocked an eyebrow at her. "Cati… that was me. _You_ told me that you tied the rope really well. _I_ fell out of the window."

"Let's not get into this now! Can't you see Sirius is in the middle of a story?" asked Cati. "Keep talking Sirius!"

"Errr… right. Well, I was there for about three months when one day _Cati_ gets tossed into the dungeons, too," said Sirius.

"Oh yeah," said Cati. "I was patrolling when suddenly I was surrounded by Death Eaters. It kinda sucked. But they nabbed me and brought me to Voldemort's lair. They tried to get information out of me, too, and I made some stuff up but I don't think he bought it. Then he took my wedding ring and stunned me. I guess that's when he sent the ring off to you."

"Ohhh, _that's_ what I saw in my premonition!" exclaimed Cadance. "I thought you were dead!"

"Well, later Voldemort said that was what he wanted," said Cati. "He said that if any of you knew either me or Sirius was alive, he wouldn't be able to stop you from finding us."

"Well, Voldemort knows us really well then," said Cadance. "Because once we knew Melinda was alive, we were able to get in to save her."

"Exactly," said Sirius. "Well, we were in Voldemort's lair for about a month. Then we were moved to Slytherin's lair, which actually worked out much better for us. We weren't really in the dungeons anymore, and we had our own rooms."

"Had to share a bathroom though," said Cati. "Sirius always used up all the hot water."

"Only when you took the last bun at dinner," said Sirius.

"Why were you moved to Slytherin's lair? Wouldn't Voldemort want to keep an eye on you himself?" asked Arabella.

Sirius and Cati exchanged and glance and started laughing. "Arabella," said Cati. "I did some things that I am _not_ proud of in Voldemort's lair."

"Yes, you are," said Sirius.

"You're right," said Cati. "I tortured the guy. By the time I was through, he wanted us as far away as possible."

"That's impressive," said Cadance.

"So what happened next?" asked Jen.

"Well, nothing really happened until earlier today when we were dragged out of our rooms and into Slytherin's Great Hall and saw Cadance, Harry, and Melinda," said Cati.

"Ah, that's where we come in," said Harry. "After Arthur, Cadance, and Charlie left for the Ministry, the rest of the Order and I got to talking about what we should do, but we didn't come up with anything definite. Then, Merlin said that he sensed Cadance and Charlie were back. So Jen and I went to go find them, and when we tracked them down in their Common Room, Charlie was frozen and Cadance was digging through the Book of Light. We then convinced Cadance to take me with her into Slytherin's lair. We drew a door and went in."

"Exactly," said Cadance. "And when we were there, we found Melinda and Slytherin, and then Pettigrew and I were going to fight, and then Sirius and Cati came in, and then I lost on purpose, and then Slytherin couldn't do anything about it, and then we tried to escape but more Death Eaters came and we had to fight them, and then Melinda came back with the rest of the Aurors, and then we tried to leave but Voldemort came in with MORE Death Eaters and then we came back!"

"And then?" asked George, kind of mockingly.

"And then we came here… and didn't someone say something about food? I'm hungry," said Cadance.

"Well, give the House Elves some time to cook," said Dumbledore.

"But I'm hungry now! Don't we have, like, potato chips or something?" asked Cadance. Suddenly a bowl of chips appeared on the table. "Yes! Thank you, my little House Elven buddies! Thank you for listening!" She and Cati grabbed a handful of chips.

"Well, I've got a lot of energy because I've been held captive for a couple months now. Who wants to play duck-duck-goose?" asked Cati.

"I do!" exclaimed Abby, Joseph, and Fred excitedly.

"Oh, Cati, do you have to get them so wound up this late at night?" asked Jen.

"Me! Me! I wanna play!" exclaimed Sirius jumping up.

"Yes, how will we get the children to bed?" asked Wendy rolling her eyes at Sirius.

Cati waved her wand, and the tables scooted off to the sides, leaving a space in the middle free. "Abby, you're it first," said Cati as she, Sirius, Joseph, and Fred all sat in a circle.

Jen turned to George who was fidgeting next to her. "You really want to play, don't you?" asked Jen.

"Yes, please, can I?" asked George.

Jen sighed. "Alright," she said, and George ran and joined the circle.

"What do you think is taking them so long at the Ministry?" asked Cadance. "Should we send Chris to find out?"

"Hey, why am I the one who keeps getting sent everywhere!" asked Chris.

"Because I'm your professor and you have to listen to me," said Cadance.

"I graduated last year!" exclaimed Chris.

"Oh yeah," said Cadance thoughtfully. "I forgot."

"Goose!" exclaimed Abby tapping Sirius on the head and running around the circle. She made it all the way around just as Sirius was getting up, and she slid into his spot.

"No fair! I'm old! It takes me a long time to stand up!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Oh, what are we playing?" asked a voice from the door to the Great Hall. Everyone turned to see Melinda bounce in, with Arabella and Arthur behind her.

"Melinda!" exclaimed Joseph and Fred, hopping up and running over to her. They slid into her legs as they had done to Cati and Sirius.

"Melinda, Mommy LIED!" exclaimed Fred.

"Will it never end?" asked Jen.

Melinda pried them off her leg and they ran back to the circle. "One of you has to be it now," said Sirius. "You left the circle."

"Chris!" exclaimed Melinda, when she saw him. She ran up to him and jumped on him. He caught her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist and hugged him tightly. "I missed you!"

"I missed you, too," said Chris, slightly confused.

"I'm sorry we fought," she said.

"Me, too," said Chris.

"You two fought?" asked James. "About what?"

"Why are you so nebby?" asked Melinda as Chris put her down.

"Harry, my boy, we need to have a chat," said Arthur joyfully.

"Now?" asked Harry.

"The sooner the better," said Arthur. "Can you come back to the Ministry?"

"Sure," said Harry.

"Don't be gone for long," said Cadance. "We're hungry and the food should be ready soon!"

"This shouldn't take too long," said Arthur clapping Harry on the back before leading the way out of the Great Hall.

"What was that about?" asked James.

"Nebby!" exclaimed Melinda pushing him gently.

"You aren't even a little bit curious?" asked James.

"No," said Melinda.

James gasped and pointed at her. "YOU KNOW!" he exclaimed.

"No, I don't!" argued Melinda.

"Yes, you do!" exclaimed James. "I've known you for my whole life! I know when you're lying!"

"You don't know anything," scoffed Melinda. "And _I_ don't know anything about why Uncle Harry and Grandpa just went into the Ministry."

"YES YOU DO!" exclaimed James. "Tell me!" He moved to grab her, and she bolted. He ran after her, screaming "TELL ME" as he ran.

"Do you think she knows?" asked Cadance as James made a lunge for Melinda, but missed and fell on his face, giving Melinda a little bit of headway as she continued to run away.

"Well, how should I know?" asked Cati as she ducked her head to avoid being goosed by Sirius.

"Why did you automatically assume I was talking to you?" asked Cadance.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought that question was posed to all of us," said Cati. "I just always feel the need to answer. Who _were_ you talking to?"

"Eh, all of you," said Cadance. "I just wanted to give you a hard time." By this time, Melinda and James were doing laps around the Great Hall.

"Hey, I found Jim!" exclaimed a voice from the door. They turned to see Wyatt walking in with Jim a step behind. Wyatt froze and looked from Cati, to Sirius, to Melinda being chased around the Great Hall by James. Melinda and James alone seemed to be unaware of the two new people in the Hall. "Am I missing something?" asked Wyatt sounding really confused. "Am I sleep-walking again? Chris, wake me up!"

"You're awake, man," said Chris.

Meanwhile, as Melinda was about to pass him, Jim reached out and grabbed her. He swung her out of James's path and pulled her into a hug. "Melinda!" he exclaimed.

James slid to a halt and glared at Him for depriving him of his source of information. "Jim!" exclaimed Melinda in surprise. He kissed her.

"Hey!" exclaimed Cati. Suddenly, Jim was thrown backwards by an invisible force. Cati had her wand raised. "What the hell!" she exclaimed.

"Oh, Cati!" exclaimed Bill. "That's Melinda's boyfriend!"

"Her WHAT!" exclaimed Cati. She looked from Jim, who was picking himself up off the floor, to Melinda, to Wyatt, who was looking at Chris, to Chris, who was averting his eyes. "WHO ARE YOU!" she exclaimed. "I _know_ everyone who went through Hogwarts!"

"His mom is American," answered James. "He claims he went to the Salem Institute."

"Did someone check on that?" asked Cati. Nobody answered. "Someone dropped the ball on that one! How did they meet?"

"Kala's bar," answered George.

"Demon bar!" exclaimed Cati. "Are we sure he's not a demon!"

"He works for Internal Affairs at the Ministry," said Godric, speaking up. Rowena elbowed him. Cati flinched and wrinkled her nose.

"When you're all through talking about me…" said Jim testily.

"I'm gone for a week and everything is all topsy-turvy!" exclaimed Cati.

"Cati, you were gone for a couple months," said Cadance.

"That too!" exclaimed Cati.

"Look, Jim," said Melinda, walking to stand next to him. "Maybe you should leave."

"But… I thought… and you're not…" stammered Jim.

"Please," said Melinda. "I'll stop by later tonight."

"Alright," he sighed. He kissed her, but she broke it off quickly, and he left. While her back was turned to watch him leave, James snuck up behind her and tried to jump on her back, but she sidestepped him just in time.

"What is going on!" exclaimed Wyatt and Cati at the exact same time.

"The food is ready!" exclaimed Mundungus Fletcher. They all turned to look at the Head Table, which was suddenly covered with food.

"Oh, chicken!" exclaimed Cati.

* * *

During dinner, Wyatt was filled in on what he had missed while he was off fetching Jim, and Cati and Sirius were informed of what they had missed while they were prisoners. After everyone was full, they remained seated at the table, talking. Abby, Joseph, and Fred had fallen asleep on Jen, Hermione, and George's laps, respectively.

"It's getting late," said Bill. "Where do you think dad and Harry are?"

"I'm going to go with: The Ministry," said Cati. "Since that's where they said they were going."

"You know it just hasn't been the same around here without that mouth," said McGonagall.

"Are you ready to teach again?" asked Wendy. "Because I'm ready to let you."

"Oh, those kids aren't bad!" argued Cati.

"They're all yours," sad Wendy.

"I'm ready to sleep in my own bed finally," said Sirius.

"Your own bed and your own house were reduced to ashes," said Wendy.

Sirius stuck out his lower lip and made a puppy dog face. "You and Wendy can move in with me until your house is fixed, Padfoot," said Remus.

"Why thank you, Moony," said Sirius. "I appreciate that. We would love to!"

"Excuse me?" asked Wendy. "Maybe you should ask your girlfriend if that's what she wants to do before you answer for her."

"Well, do you?" asked Sirius.

"Sure," said Wendy. "But it would have been nice if you asked first!"

"Don't nag me. It's not like we're married," said Sirius.

"Well, it's not for a lack of trying on my part," said Wendy.

"Fine! Do you wanna get married?" asked Sirius.

"Not if you're going to ask like that!" argued Wendy.

"Oh come on!" exclaimed Sirius.

"No!"

"Marry me, damnit!"

"Fine!"

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds then Remus said, "So I hear Gryffindor is doing well in Quidditch this year."

Just then, Harry and Arthur walked in. "Hello!" said Harry cheerfully. "Did we miss anything?"

"Congratulate me, Harry; I'm getting married," said Sirius testily.

"Well, if you're going to be crabby about it, I don't want to marry you!" exclaimed Wendy.

"I'm confused," said Harry.

"Oh, yeah?" asked Wyatt. "As confused as I was when I walked in here to find Cati and Sirius _alive_ and playing duck-duck-goose and James chasing Melinda around shouting 'TELL ME' at the top of his lungs?"

"Get over it, Wyatt," said Bill. "We filled you in."

"James, don't chase your cousin," reprimanded Arthur.

"BUT SHE KNOWS!" exclaimed James.

"Sirius, I'm not going to marry you if you're not going to be serious about it!" exclaimed Wendy.

"I _am_ being serious!" exclaimed Sirius. He pointed at his face. "See this? This is my serious face."

"S-E-R-I-O-U-S, not S-I-R-I-U-S," said Wendy.

"I meant S-E-R-I-O-U-S," said Sirius.

"Well, stop being S-I-R-I-U-S and start being more S-E-R-I-O-U-S," said Wendy.

"Grandpa, Melinda knew why you and dad had to talk at the Ministry and she wouldn't tell me!" exclaimed James. "_That's_ why I had to chase her around1"

"I _told_ her not to tell you," said Arthur. "And you _still_ shouldn't chase your cousin."

"You just don't understand that I can be a S-E-R-I-O-U-S S-E-R-I-U-S," said Sirius.

"You misspelled your name!" exclaimed Wendy.

"What did you talk about at the Ministry?" James asked Harry and Arthur.

"None of your business at the moment," said Harry winking. "But you'll find out soon enough. I daresay by tomorrow morning."

"Why does Melinda get to know?" asked James.

"She was in the right place at the right time," said Arthur. "And that's the end of it."

"So are you going to marry me or not?" asked Sirius to Wendy.

"I don't know," said Wendy. "You can't even spell your own name."

"I'm canceling classes for tomorrow," announced McGonagall. "We can tell all the students tomorrow at breakfast."

"Now I'm curious about what Arthur and Harry were doing!" exclaimed Cati. She locked eyes with Harry.

"What are you doing?" asked Harry cocking an eyebrow.

"Close your mind, Uncle Harry; she's trying to read it," said Melinda.

"Tattle tale!" exclaimed Cati.

"Come on, Wendy," said Sirius. "Are you going to marry me or not?"

Wendy looked him up and down then sighed. "Alright," she said.

Suddenly, Cati gasped. She was looking at Melinda. "You're going to break up with Jim when you see him later tonight!" she exclaimed.

Everyone turned to look at Melinda. "Oh, great Aunt Cati," said Melinda sarcastically. "That's really mature! Getting revenge by reading _my_ mind. Thank you for that."

"So you are!" exclaimed James hopping up. "Yes!"

"It's not as if any of it's your business, and that goes for all of you," said Melinda. "But, yes."

"Honey, you're a member of _this_ family," said Jen. "Your business is ALL of our business."

Melinda sighed, and then there was an awkward silence as everyone looked around at each other. "So," said Remus, trying to break the silence again. "Cati and Sirius and Melinda are alive, and so are 9 other Aurors from that mission. Sirius and Wendy are getting married. Melinda's breaking up with her boyfriend. And Minerva's canceling class for tomorrow. Anyone else want to add some news?"

"Harry is the new Head Auror," said Arthur clapping Harry on the back.

* * *

**A/N: THE END! … of this chapter anyway. Please read and Review!**


	19. It Wasn't All A Dream

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as someone else's.

_**Please Review!**_

"What happened to General Mills?" asked Melinda, breaking the shocked silence in the Great Hall that followed her grandfather's proclamation.

"Did someone pour milk on him then eat him? Or maybe they stole his lucky charms?" asked Cati. Everyone stared at her blankly. "The cereal brand. You know? General Mills. They make Lucky Charms the cereal." More blank stares. "You people don't appreciate my genius."

"So, what happened to General Mills?" asked Melinda as if Cati hadn't spoken.

"Former-General Mills and I had a little chat," said Arthur. "Mutually we came to the conclusion that it was time for him to step down. He's going to take a desk job elsewhere in the Ministry and we have named Harry his successor."

"General Potter…" said Cati. "That's not a food brand!"

"Well spotted," said Harry.

"So what is your first act as Head Auror going to be, Uncle Harry?" asked Melinda.

"Well, I believe some promotions are in order," said Harry. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment. "But other than that I guess my first act is to get a signature on this." He handed it to Cadance.

"What is it?" she asked, not looking at it.

"A contract. Arthur and I both already signed it," said Harry.

"What kind of contract?" asked Cati, looking over Cadance's shoulder as she finally looked at it.

"_I, Cadance Rose DiGeniva Dumbledore Weasley_, _do hereby proclaim my allegiance to the Wizarding World and the Ministry and on this day as I join the Auroring Department_…" Cadance stopped reading abruptly and chuckled to herself. "You're making me take the Auror's Oath." She snapped her fingers and a quill appeared in them, and she signed the bottom of the paper.

"You bet your ass I am," said Harry.

"Alright, but this is the _last time_ I'm joining the Aurors," said Cadance handing the contract to Harry.

"I know," said Harry. "I added a special 'Cadance Clause' in it."

"What?" asked Cadance grabbing the contract and scanning it again. "NO!"

"Never sign anything without reading all of it," said Harry.

"YOU OWN MY SOUL!" exclaimed Cadance hitting him with the contract.

"Stop being such a drama queen," said Harry putting up his hands in defense.

"What's going on?" asked Cati taking the contract out of her hands to read it.

"Cadance's contract is non-retractable," said Harry.

"That's not fair!" exclaimed Cadance.

"Oh, come on!" argued Harry. "This is the FOURTH time you've joined the Aurors! This time it's going to stick!"

"I want the freedom to quit whenever I want!" exclaimed Cadance.

"We're in the middle of a bloody war; you don't have that luxury!" exclaimed Harry.

Cati cleared her throat and then read off the contract. "_And additionally, I, Cadance Rose DiGeneva Dumbledore Weasley, hereby recognize that this contract is non-retractable and cannot be voided under any circumstances._ This is so cool!"

"You are a sneaky, sneaky man, General Potter!" exclaimed Cadance.

"And that's what's going to make him the greatest Head Auror of all time!" exclaimed Jen. "Way to go!" Abby, who was still sleeping on her lap stirred a little before settling back down.

"I think you're all..." began Cadance, but she was interrupted as Abby sneezed, and suddenly there was a flash in the middle of the Great Hall. Everyone's heads whipped towards it and they stared with eyes wide in surprise as llama appeared where the flash had been. Slowly they turned to look at Abby, who was still sleeping peacefully.

After a few seconds, Bill broke the silence. "So, I think it's time to go to bed," he said grabbing Cati's hand and walking towards the door.

"Yeah, definitely," said Jen, shifting Abby's weight, and heading towards the door, too. Everyone exchanged glances and started murmuring in agreement and walking out the door as well.

"There is a llama in my Great Hall!"argued McGonagall. "Who's going to get rid of the llama?"

"Well, I just spent the last couple of months in Slytherin's castle, so I don't think _I_ should have to get rid of the llama," said Cati. "But I think Jen, as the conjurer's mother, should have to get rid of it."

"Well, I would, but I… have to get Abby some flu medicine before she sneezes again and something worse appears," said Jen. Abby sneezed again and giraffe appeared.

Everyone looked at each other and then rushed out of the hall, leaving Professor McGonagall and Merlin alone staring up at the giraffe. They looked at each other and sighed, then pulled out their wands.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Well, that was an interesting day," said Wyatt as he, Chris, and Melinda entered their flat. He flopped down on the couch. "I'm beat."

"_You're_ beat?" asked Melinda flopping down next to him. Wyatt put his arm around her. "_You're_ not the one who got _kidnapped_ today!"

"Oh, stop whining," said Wyatt. "You got to have an adventure. _I_ had to run all over to find _your_ boyfriend."

Melinda cleared her throat a little. "Right," she said. She sat up and brushed her hair out of her face.

"You're really going to break up with him?" asked Wyatt.

Melinda sighed and nodded. "I should probably go do that," she said. "Wish me luck."

"Luck," said Wyatt kicking her a little with his foot as she stood.

"Good luck," murmured Chris. Melinda patted his shoulder as she walked passed him and out the door.

Once she was gone, Chris sunk into a chair covered his face with his hands and groaned. "Uh, I'm sorry, but are you _upset_ about something?" asked Wyatt.

"I'm just tired and confused," said Chris uncovering his face. "Women are confusing."

"What's confusing?" asked Wyatt. "She's breaking up with Jim. This is your chance. Don't blow it like an asshole."

"That's the thing, Wyatt," said Chris running his fingers through his hair. "She's been right the entire time. We _can't_ do this."

"Don't be an idiot," snapped Wyatt. He yawned and stood up. "Now, I'm going to bed. You wait up for Melinda and talk to her, then tell me all about it in the morning."

"But…" began Chris but Wyatt cut him off.

"Don't argue with me," said Wyatt walking down the hallway until Chris couldn't see him anymore. "Goodnight!" Chris heard him call. Then he heard his door close.

--------------------------------------------------

"So about you freezing me earlier," said Charlie as he and Cadance climbed into bed. Cadance leaned over and gave him a peck on the forehead.

"Goodnight, Charlie," laughed Cadance.

"I'm serious!" argued Charlie. "I don't like it when you freeze me when we're fighting! I can't win that way!"

"Aw, I'm sorry, dear," said Cadance inching closer to him. He put her arm around her.

"It's okay," said Charlie.

"Charlie, for the first time in four or five years I think I'm going to have a good night's sleep," said Cadance drowsily as she closed her eyes.

"I'm glad," whispered Charlie.

There was silence for a few seconds as they both almost drifted off to sleep when they heard a loud crash coming from their Common Room. They both sat bolt upright then jumped out of bed. They ran into the Common Room as they drew their wands.

They breathed a sigh of relieve when they saw Cati picking herself up off the floor. The coffee table was flipped on its side. Bill was sitting in a chair reading a book. Without even looking up, he said, "See, Cati. I told you that if you continued to jump on the couch you would wake them up."

Cadance and Charlie rolled their eyes and went back to bed.

-------------------------------------------

Chris had been staring at the same page of the newspaper for the past thirty minutes, since Melinda had left. He was trying to occupy himself, but it just wasn't working. He was wondering how long it would take to break up with someone. It couldn't take that long, could it? She'd be home in a couple minutes, right? He considered waking Wyatt up for a game of Wizard's Chess to help pass the time, but he decided against it.

He turned the page on the newspaper and noticed that Madame Malkin's was having a one-day-only sale on robes. "Hmm, I could use new robes," he thought to himself, then got excited that he managed to forget that he was waiting for Melinda for a second. Too bad he didn't notice that the newspaper was over a week old.

Suddenly, the door was kicked open and Melinda stalked in, slamming the door behind her. "How'd it go?" asked Chris, jumping up.

"Men are such babies," said Melinda rolling her eyes. "He wanted to know _why_ I was breaking up with him. I told him it just wasn't going anywhere. Then he accused me of cheating on him with you!"

"Well, you…" began Chris but he trailed off. "I mean… you broke up… because of…"

Melinda looked away for a second then looked back at him. She reached out and grabbed his hand. "I did," said Melinda. She reached up with her other hand and gently touched his face. "Chris…"

"Melinda, wait," said Chris pulling away abruptly. "We have to talk about this. It's just that I've gotten to thinking and you were right."

"I was _right_?" asked Melinda, her voice quavering. "Right about what?"

"We can't do this," said Chris. "We can't have a relationship in these times. It's not safe. It's not _real_. Voldemort is real."

"How could you possibly have changed your mind so quickly?" asked Melinda incredulously.

"Let's just say I got a _slap in the face_," said Chris. "Literally."

"What?" asked Melinda. "Oh, you mean me."

"Yeah," said Chris. "And I'm not the only one who changed their mind quickly. How did you get from 'I never want to see you again' and slapping me in the face to… _this_."

"Let's just call it a change of heart," said Melinda. "When I was in Slytherin's lair, all I could think of was how I had blown it with you! I was afraid I wouldn't get a chance to see you again. I was afraid I wouldn't get a chance to make things right!"

"This isn't about _making things right_, Melinda. It's about Voldemort," said Chris. He grabbed her hand. "Maybe in another _time_ and _place_ this would have been great."

Melinda jerked her hand away. "We can't just _pretend_ we don't have feelings for each other," she said. She turned around and stomped off to her room.

"Melinda, wait…" Chris called after her.

"This will destroy us _both_," she said before slamming her door.

Chris sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Wyatt's door opened and he poked his head out. He looked from Chris to Melinda's closed door and back again. "You _idiot_!" he exclaimed before pulling his head back into his room and then slamming his door as well.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, sun streamed through the window of Cadance and Charlie's bedroom. Cadance wrinkled her nose and rolled over without opening her eyes, accidentally whacking Charlie in the face as she did so. He grunted.

"Sorry," she said inching closer and putting her head on his chest. He draped his arm over her.

"It's time to wake up anyway," said Charlie, finally opening his eyes. He reached over and brushed the hair out of her face.

"I had the greatest dream," said Cadance sleepily. "First Melinda was caught by Slytherin, which wasn't so great, but then I froze you and then Harry and I went and got her back and I got to sword fight with Pettigrew and Cati and Sirius were actually alive and we brought them back and then Minerva canceled classes."

There was a pause as Charlie lifted his head up off the pillow and cocked an eyebrow at her. Just then, their door burst open. Cati was standing there, dressed and ready for the day. "GET UP, SLEEPYHEADS!" she exclaimed. "We've got stuff to do today!" Then she skipped off. Cadance sat bolt upright with wide eyes.

"Not a dream, babe," said Charlie. He planted a kiss on her cheek and climbed out of bed. A big grin crossed Cadance's face and she sat up on her knees.

"So Sirius and Wendy _are_ getting married then?" asked Cadance.

"Looks like it," said Charlie.

"And Harry's the Head Auror?"

"Uh huh," said Charlie.

"And Minerva _did_ cancel classes?" she asked throwing her arms out to the side, inviting a hug.

"Yes, ma'am," said Charlie wrapping his arms around her.

Cadance pulled him back down on the bed with her. "Good," she said. "Let's go back to bed."

Cati ran past the door. "GET MOVING!" she exclaimed.

Cadance gasped. "What is it?" asked Charlie.

"Am I an Auror again!" she asked. Charlie laughed and Cadance groaned.

Cati ran past again. "COME ON!" she exclaimed. They both got up and walked out into their Common Room in their pajamas. Cati was straightening Bill's tie. He pulled his robes on once she was done.

"What are you all dressed up for?" asked Charlie confused. "You don't wear a tie to work."

"And, Cati…" began Cadance, pointing at Cati's clothes. She was wearing her formal Auror attire, which consisted of a grey skirt, white blouse, black tie, grey vest, black heels, and black robes with the Aurors' insignia on them. "Did someone die? Because I've only ever worn formal Auror attire to funerals."

"We have to get to breakfast on time, because most of the school has no idea that Sirius and I are alive, and I can't wait to see the look on their faces! And then, Harry's giving a speech in the Great Hall at 11, and we all have to be there," said Cati. "Better find a pair of panty hose."

"What?" asked Cadance confused.

"The entire Order is going to be there and so are a lot of Aurors and some Ministry people, and we have to be dressed up," said Cati. "Minerva just stopped by here to tell us."

"I don't have Formal Auror-wear," said Cadance.

"Yes, you do," said Cati. "It's in your closet."

"Yeah, from _twenty years_ ago," said Cadance.

"It hasn't changed any since then," said Cati straightening Bills robes for him.

"I think my ass has gotten bigger," said Cadance.

"They'll fit," scoffed Cati, ushering them both back into their room. "Get ready, you two!"

"Wait a second," said Cadance putting her hand on the doorway to stop Cati from pushing her. "The entire Order is going to be there? I thought I was in charge of the Order."

"Well, technically yes," said Cati. "But when you're asleep, your uncle makes the decisions."

"You know if we would have known four and a half years ago when we brought them back that they would _still_ be here now…" began Cadance.

"It wouldn't have changed a thing," said Cati. "We still would have done it. Now CHANGE!" She ushered them into their room and closed the door behind them. She rolled her eyes and turned around. Bill was sitting on the couch reading the paper. "Bill! You're going to get all wrinkled if you slouch like that!"

"Slytherin's lair turned you into my mother," said Bill, adjusting himself in the chair.

"I'm sorry," said Cati, sitting on his lap and resting her head against his.

"You're wrinkling me," said Bill. Cati laughed. She kissed his forehead then they both stood up. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he put his hands on his waist.

"I love you," said Cati.

"I love you, too," said Bill.

"I missed you," said Cati. "I like Sirius and all, but his company just doesn't compare to yours. I even missed your ridiculous earring."

"I thought you liked my ridiculous earring," said Bill.

Cati pursed her lips together for a second then said, "I love you."

Bill bent his head down and kissed her. As he was kissing her, Melinda entered the Common Room from the hallway. She was wearing about half of her Auror uniform. She had on her blouse, her skirt, and her shoes, but her blouse wasn't tucked in. Her black tie was draped around her neck, but wasn't tied. Her vest and her robes were draped over her arm. "Get a room," she scoffed.

"Get dressed!" exclaimed Cati. "We have to be at breakfast in a few minutes! Did you wake up Chris and Wyatt like I told you? Do they know to be here by 11?"

"I woke up _Wyatt_," said Melinda, taking a seat on the couch.

"Is Wyatt going to wake up Chris?" asked Cati.

"That's up to him," said Melinda fiddling with her tie. Bill and Cati exchanged a look.

Cadance and Charlie came out of their bedroom. Cadance was wearing her formal Auror uniform, and Charlie was wearing his nicest teaching robes with the Hogwarts crest on them. "Would you stop being ridiculous?" asked Charlie, straightening his tie. "Your ass _does too_ fit into that skirt. You look fine."

"This better be a _good_ speech," pouted Cadance. Then she noticed Melinda. "Did you break up with Jim?"

"Well, hello to you, too," said Melinda.

"You know what?" asked Bill. "Let's just go to breakfast."

"I'm not hungry," said Melinda. "I'll be down by the time Uncle Harry gives his speech."

"Well, what are you going to do?" asked Charlie.

"Just sit here, I think," said Melinda.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Cadance cocking an eyebrow.

"Nothing. And if you poke around inside of my head to try to find something out I'll tell you what I think about how your ass fits in that skirt," said Melinda.

Cadance pursed her lips together for a second then said, "Yeah, let's just go to breakfast."

They headed towards the door. "Are you poking around inside my head? Do you know what I'm thinking right now?" asked Charlie to Cadance as he slipped his arm around her as they walked.

Cadance looked up at him then said, "You're thinking that you like my ass?"

"Yup," said Charlie.

"Eww!" exclaimed Melinda at them. "Hello! That's gross! I'm your daughter and I'm sitting right here!"

"I hate to break it to you, dear, but if your father didn't like my ass _you wouldn't be_," said Cadance.

Melinda cocked an eyebrow at her mother. "Going into Slytherin's lair made you weird," she said.

"It wasn't Slytherin's lair that did that, dear. It's the presence of your Aunt Cati," said Cadance pushing open the portrait hole so they could exit. "And, FYI, being kidnapped made _you_ a bit edgy."

"It wasn't being kidnapped that did that," said Melinda quietly to herself as her parents and aunt and uncle left. Melinda sat in silence for a few minutes then suddenly green flames erupted from the fireplace. A second later, Wyatt emerged. She smiled weakly at him as he walked to the couch and sat down next to her. He, too, was wearing his formal Auror uniform, which looked like Melinda, Cadance, and Cati's except it had pants instead of a skirt.

"Hey," he said after a few moments of silence. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Melinda, not very convincingly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Melinda, give me some more credit," said Wyatt rolling his eyes. "I know about you and Chris. Or about the _lack_ of you and Chris. Whatever." He reached up and brushed a stray hair out of her face. She finally broke down and began to cry. Wyatt wrapped his arms around her and let her cry on his shoulder.

"It's my fault, you know," said Melinda. "I shouldn't have pushed him away like I did. I shouldn't have started dating Jim as a way to get over my feelings for him. And I shouldn't have slapped him before I left for that mission. I _should_ have let him know I was in love with him last summer when he told me, instead of telling him we couldn't be together because of _Voldemort_."

"Whoa, wait a second!" exclaimed Wyatt. "You knew _last summer_?"

"Yeah, what did you think?" asked Melinda. She sniffled a little.

"I thought that you didn't know until last night, and you were upset because he told you and you didn't know how to handle it!" exclaimed Wyatt.

"_No!_" exclaimed Melinda. "Last summer Chris and I _almost_ had something but I stopped it because I was an idiot. Then I started dating Jim and then I went on that mission and I realized that I was being ridiculous so I broke up with Jim and then Chris said that I was right and that we can't be together." She took a deep breath then started crying again.

Wyatt pulled her into a hug. "Wow, Chris is more of an idiot than I thought," he said, rubbing her back soothingly. "I'm sorry I woke him up and told him to be here by 11:00 then. I'm going to kill him."

"No, Wyatt," said Melinda, pulling away. "It's my fault."

"You're not going to move out or anything now, are you?" asked Wyatt.

"No," said Melinda. "Never."

Meanwhile, in the Great Hall…

The students were positively buzzing with the news that Cati and Sirius were alive. All of Gryffindor knew last night, but it had not yet spread to the entire school, so everyone was quite shocked when they entered the Great Hall to see both Cati and Sirius sitting at the Head Table with the rest of the teachers as if nothing had happened. They were also surprised when the Post Owls came in bringing the newspapers, which proclaimed Harry as the new Head Auror, ran a feature article on the mission that was both botched and saved during the previous evening, and announced that Sirius and Cati were indeed still alive, all on the front page.

"Well," said Cadance scanning the front page of the newspaper. "Anything good in the newspaper today?"

"Yes, well, there's a good article on page four about family in Dublin who are raising Hippogriffs for charity," said Bill. "Hey, did anything eventful happen yesterday?"

"I don't know," said Cadance. "You'd think all the good stuff would be on the front page."

"Who are these homely looking people?" asked Charlie, pointing to the pictures of Sirius and Cati.

"I don't know if I'd exactly call them _homely_," said Bill. "I kinda want to take the girl out on date or something and then maybe marry her and have a kid."

"Hey, you know, I hear Mills is getting an award for doing such an excellent job in leading the Aurors," said Cati.

"Harry's getting demoted back to a private," said Cadance.

"Voldemort's dead," said Bill. Cati, Cadance, and Charlie stared at him. "Too far with the joke?"

"Yeah, just a bit," said Cadance.

Dumbledore walked in with Harry a second later. "Cadance, dear, the rest of the Order is in the meeting room," said Dumbledore. "They're going to come in shortly before 11. I thought that it best not to overwhelm the students with a lot of extra people during their breakfast hour, since they are already being shocked with the presence of Cati and Sirius."

"Did you see the paper today?" asked Harry. "Apparently there was some big to-do involving some Aurors and some Death Eaters last night. I didn't really read the article. Anyone have any idea what was going on?"

"Aw, Harry, you're about a minute too late," said Cadance. "We already played that game."

"Damn," sighed Harry. "Next time wait for me!"

"Blame Bill," said Charlie. "He went too far with it and we had to stop."

"Sorry!" exclaimed Bill.

"Can someone pass me a newspaper, please?" asked McGonagall from farther down the table.

"Yeah, sure," said Harry grabbing the paper that Charlie had just set down. "Hey, check and see if anything interesting is going on!"

"Save it, Potter," said McGonagall taking the paper and looking at it. "I'm not playing."

"Damn again," said Harry. "I'm going to the Order meeting room. I bet someone in there wants to play." He and Dumbledore turned around and walked out of the Great Hall.

"Hmmmm," said Cati scanning the article. "This says that the incredibly generous Headmistress of Hogwarts is going to give her beautiful, young Transfiguration teacher some time off so she and her husband can go away on vacation to help recover from her time as a hostage of Voldemort and Slytherin!"

"It does not," said McGonagall without looking up from the paper.

"To be fair," said Cadance, "Charlie and I left for almost a month after _I_ was held hostage by Slytherin."

"No, you got time off when you almost _died_ because you were tossed in a cell in Azkaban," said McGonagall. "The circumstances were completely different."

"But she didn't have to be held hostage with _Sirius_," said Cati.

Closer to 11 o'clock, the rest of the Order came in, as well as several members of the Ministry and the reporters from the Daily Prophet. They sat in chairs along the walls. Students who had left the Great Hall after they had finished eating were starting to return. Harry sat at the very center of the Head Table, with Arthur on his right and McGonagall on his left. Wyatt and Melinda came in and a few minutes later Chris came in, as well. He sat down on the opposite side of the Great Hall.

At 11 o'clock on the nose, Harry stood up and cleared his throat. Immediately, the Great Hall fell silent and Harry began speaking. "I'd like to thank you all for coming here today," he started. "I'd also like to thank Headmistress McGonagall for letting us do this at Hogwarts and Minister Weasley for giving me the opportunity to lead the Aurors. I hope that I will lead them well.

I'd like to start off by saying that in this war against Voldemort, the Head Auror will no longer be taking a passive role. I intend to be on the front lines with the best of my Aurors. I also plan on working with Minister Weasley and Headmistress McGonagall to implement some new programs. Also, Cadance Weasley," he paused to look at her, and she immediately stopped arranging the grapes on her plates to look up and smile. Harry continued.

"Cadance Weasley is the Head of the Order of the Phoenix. Some of you have heard of it, and others haven't. Maybe a few of you even think it's a myth. But I assure you that it's as real as I am. I promise to work with her as well. We're all going to work together to try to keep the Wizarding world safe from Voldemort's reign of terror. We are going to do everything we can to destroy that monster."

Arthur stood up. "And I think I speak for Headmistress McGonagall, Professor Weasley and myself when I say that we are all fully prepared to do everything we can to help General Potter. I fully trust his judgment and I am confident that he will be able to deliver us from these dark and troubled times. Thank you." The Great Hall started to get noisy again.

"That's it?" asked Cadance as Harry and Arthur sat down. The students and Ministry Members started to stand and exit the Great Hall. "In and out in five minutes? I had to put on formal Auroring clothes for a five minute speech?"

"You can keep them on for the Order meeting tonight," suggested Harry.

"Yeah, I guess..." started Cadance. "Wait a minute! There's an Order meeting tonight?"

"Yes, ma'am," said Harry. "And I'm going to be making a few announcements there tonight."

"Alright, that's it," said Cadance standing up. She stuck her thumb and her index finger in her mouth and whistled. "Oy! Order of the Phoenix! Over here!" All of the Order Members started to make their way over to them. "Melinda Weasley! Wyatt Halliwell! Chris Halliwell! You guys, too! Get over here!" They exchanged a look and headed towards the head table as well.

"Something you need, dear?" asked Dumbledore once everyone had congregated around the table.

"Alright, I get the message, Uncle Albus," said Cadance. "I'm not being active enough as the head of this Order. I'm taking control back."

"And what is the first thing you're going to do?" asked Dumbledore.

Cadance paused. "Melinda, Chris, and Wyatt," she said. They looked up at her. "Consider this your official invitation to join the Order of the Phoenix. There's a meeting tonight at 8 o'clock."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With but a few minutes left until 8 o'clock, most of the Order was seated at the table in the meeting room. Wyatt sat between Melinda and Chris, who kept stealing glances at each other. They were just waiting on Jen and George. The room was mostly quiet. Some people were talking quietly amongst themselves. Cadance had her elbow resting on the table and her head leaning on her hand. She was drumming the fingers of her other hand on the table.

Cati reached into her pocket and pulled out a piece of parchment. She tore a piece off of the corner off and re-pocketed the parchment. She then wadded up the piece that she had torn off and took aim. She flicked it. It arched high in the air and landed down the front of Kala's shirt. "I'm going to kill you later," said Kala pointing at her. Cati responded by sticking her tongue out at her and crossing her eyes.

"Are all meetings like this?" asked Melinda.

"More or less," answered McGonagall.

"Where are Jen and George?" asked Cadance to no one in particular.

"Abby's still sick," said Hermione in answer. "Jen's probably still trying to get the pudding off the ceiling." Everyone stared at her blankly. "It exploded." More blank stares. "Never mind. It's a long story."

Right then, the door opened and Jen and George walked in. They both looked tired and George had some pudding in his hair. Everyone stared at them waiting for an explanation, but Jen simply said, "Don't ask." She reached into her pocket and pulled something out. She tossed it to Cadance, who caught it. "You left that here during the last meeting," she said. Cadance held it up. It was the Amulet of Merlin, which she had thrown out of anger.

"Thanks," said Cadance. She slipped it over her head and tucked it into her robes. "Alright, let's get this show on the road. Arthur, Harry, Minerva and I have been talking for the past few hours. They came up with some ideas and I must say I like them."

"Will I like them?" asked Cati perkily.

"Oh yeah," said Cadance.

"Oh, what are they?" asked Cati, her eyes growing wide.

"Well, first, I think we should inform you all that after today's meeting you will no longer be able to Apparate into or out of the Order of the Phoenix meeting room. We've decided it's a safety risk. You'll have to walk up from Hogsmeade," said Cadance.

Most people groaned. Jen, however, gasped. "Wait a second," she said. "We can APPARATE in here!"

"Not anymore. Didn't you hear what she _just_ said?" said Bill.

"Next, we're going to start a new class here at Hogwarts," said McGonagall, taking up the conversation. "For people who think they might want to become and Auror. For the remainder of the year, it's going to take place in the evenings and will be open to people in their 5th Year and above. Starting next year, we will be having it as a class to be scheduled during the regular school day, and to be graded in." Immediately murmurs of approval sounded through the meeting room.

"Who will be teaching it?" asked Moody.

"We've talked about that," said McGonagall, looking to Arthur.

"Naturally, the obvious choice would be to have an Auror teach it, or a retired Auror at the very least," said Arthur. "However, we would like for it to be an Order Member, and as every Auror in the Order that had been retired was pulled out of retirement years ago, we have had to come up with a more creative solution. You see, our full-time Aurors are too busy to commit to teaching a few classes a day, because that's what it's going to come down to."

"Luckily, we have three part-time Aurors at Hogwarts, already," piped in Harry.

"Who?" asked Cati curiously.

"Uh, Cati, you're one of them," said Cadance. "And me and Minerva."

"We're only part-time?" asked Cati incredulously.

"Yes, well you get to participate in all the fun things, without sitting through the hours and hours of paperwork during the work day," said Harry. "That's part-time."

"Oh, I was wondering why I was getting paid about half of what I used to get paid," said Cati. "I just thought that Mills didn't like me."

"Well, he didn't," said Harry. "But that's not the point. As I was saying, we have a few part-time Aurors here."

"Between the three of us, I believe that we can come up with a schedule that won't conflict with our other duties," said McGonagall. "And for the end of this year, we were hoping that the rest of you will help out, as the classes will be after the regular school day. I'm sure the students could benefit from the wisdom you can share with them."

"Does this 'sharing of wisdom' of which you speak just apply to Aurors?" asked George. "Because I've got a lot of stuff that I'd like to pass on that Jen won't let me teach to Abby and Fred."

"Fortunately, yes, the wisdom just applies to Auror things," said McGonagall.

"Sorry, mate," said Harry. "You can pass your wisdom on to James if you want."

"Harry!" reprimanded Ginny.

"Already did, Harry," George winking.

"GEORGE!" exclaimed Ginny.

"Can we please get back to the issues at hand?" asked McGonagall a little testily.

"It just _kills_ you when we get off topic, doesn't it?" asked Cadance bemusedly.

"Well, I _do_ have other things to do," said McGonagall.

"Like what?" asked Cadance.

"Hiring a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor for one," said McGonagall.

"Ha ha," said Cadance coldly.

"Moving on," said Harry, interrupting. "I'd just like to mention that I'm working on getting the Auror uniforms changed." Immediately, everyone's attention was caught.

"What!" exclaimed Cati, jumping up in excitement. "Really!"

"Yes," said Harry. "Really, white robes are so problematic. And the clothes we have to wear underneath are not comfortable! Who wants to fight Death Eaters in dress pants and a dress shirt? Honestly!"

"So what are we going to wear instead?" asked Jen.

"Black robes with the Aurors' crest on it," said Harry. "And whatever the hell you want underneath."

Everyone began talking excitedly. Cati jumped up and down excitedly and then bolted out of the room. "Where…" began Melinda, pointing towards the door.

"Never ask that question," interrupted McGonagall. "You'll never like the answer." Melinda nodded.

"Are we going to do anything productive this meeting?" asked Jen. "Because I've got a kid at home that's sneezing magic, and it's freaking out the poor House Elf."

"Just a little bit longer, Jen. I promise," said Harry.

"Well, what's next?" asked George.

"Promotions," said Harry. "Every Auror in the Order of the Phoenix is now promoted to Major… except Melinda, Chris, and Wyatt. Sorry, kids, but you have to be an Auror for more than twelve minutes before you can get promoted."

"But apparently not to get kidnapped," said Melinda.

"No, you only have to be an Auror for five minutes for that, dear," said Cadance.

"Naturally, we're not going to expect…" began Arthur, but he stopped short as the door opened and Cati burst in. She hopped up on the table and threw her arms in the air victoriously.

"This is my Auror uniform!" she exclaimed. She was wearing black pants, black boots, and a black tank top. Of course, she was also wearing her Indiana Jones hat and a belt with a bullwhip and knives attached to it. Black, light robes were thrown on over top.

"Is that my hat?" asked Cadance cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Yeah, I lost mine when I was taken hostage," said Cati.

"Damnit, I _told_ Slytherin that I wanted to take you all home _exactly_ as you came in. I _told_ him that I wanted _everything_ you had with you when you came in to leave with you when you went out!" exclaimed Cadance with frustration. "That dirty lying bastard!"

"Wow, Slytherin deceived you. What a shock," deadpanned Harry.

"Arthur, you were saying something before you were interrupted by… Cati," said McGonagall.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" said Cati and Bill reached up to help her off the table. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything!"

"You ran in and jumped on the table, and you didn't mean to interrupt anything?" asked Arabella.

Cati paused before saying, "I sometimes don't think before I act."

"Arthur…" prompted McGonagall.

"Yes, right," said Arthur. "I was only saying that naturally we won't be expecting Sirius, Cati, or Melinda to be taking any missions any time soon. Of course, they will be given some time off, as well as the other nine Aurors on that mission with Melinda."

"No missions!" exclaimed Cati. "But I was looking forward to going out and having adventures with Cadance again!"

"Aw, Cati," said Cadance. "We can still have adventures. They just won't be Ministry-sanctioned ones."

"Can we have one tonight!" asked Cati.

"I don't know," said Cadance skeptically. "It's a little late and we have classes in the morning."

"A little one?" asked Cati, pouting a little.

Cadance sighed. "Alright. Just a little one."

"Grandpa. Uncle Harry," said Melinda speaking up.

"Yes, dear," said Arthur.

"I don't want some time off," said Melinda. "I _want_ to go on missions."

"What?" asked Chris in shock.

"Melinda, take it from someone who's been an Auror for longer than he's _not_ been an Auror…" began Sirius.

"No, you haven't," said Wendy. "You were in Azkaban for thirteen years. You were an Auror for three before that and twenty after it. And before all of that, you spent seventeen years _not_ being an Auror."

"Holy shit, you're old," said Harry. "Wendy, are you sure that you want to marry that?"

"Don't open up that door, Harry," said Sirius narrowing his eyes a little bit. "Anyway, as I was saying… Melinda, take it from someone who's been an Auror for a _very_ long time. Take whatever you can get from the Ministry. Time off, money, benefits, you name it."

"It's like Uncle Harry said," began Melinda. "You can't get a promotion if you've only been an Auror for twelve minutes."

"You've been an Auror for twelve minutes and you're _looking_ for a promotion?" asked Jen.

"Not really," said Melinda. "But I'm also looking to prove that I'm not being treated any differently because my grandfather is the Minister of Magic and my uncle is the Head Auror."

"Uh, in case you haven't noticed, everyone else is taking some time off," said Sirius. "So if you don't wan to be treated differently…"

"Shut up for a second, you crazy old man," said Melinda. "I want to do my part. I'm old enough now. You can't say I'm not. This is my fight, too."

"Do you have a death wish or something?" asked Chris.

"Excuse me, but this is none of your business," said Melinda snippily.

"Actually, it's the general consensus that anything you bring up at an Order of the Phoenix meeting automatically becomes open to interpretation, analysis, critique, and even ridicule by the rest of the group," said Remus. "That is why Sirius rarely ever opens his mouth during these meetings. On the rare occasion when he does, he gets ridiculed."

"It's the truth," conceded Sirius.

"I'm just saying that I don't want the time off," said Melinda ignoring them.

"Cadance, talk to your daughter," said Chris looking to Cadance.

"Do _not_ bring my mother into this!" admonished Melinda. "That's exactly what I _don't_ want!" Cadance and Charlie exchanged a look. "This is my decision. It's not hers. It's not theirs. It's not yours."

"You're talking nonsense," said Chris.

"How is this nonsense!" exclaimed Melinda with frustration. "What am I going to do with some time off? I'm not going to just sit around on my ass and eat cereal all day."

"Oh, I am!" exclaimed Sirius. "That's what I'm doing with my time off!"

"Well, I'm not," said Melinda. "

"Just think for a second. It's dangerous. You could have been _killed_," said Chris. "Take some time off!"

"How is taking some time off going to save me from being killed?" asked Melinda. "Sitting at home and waiting for danger, or waiting for it in the Auroring Department isn't going to change anything. Everything's dangerous in these dark times! There are all kinds of dangerous!"

Charlie leaned in to Cadance and whispered, "Is it just me, or is there something oddly familiar about this?"

"Well, if that wasn't the biggest load of sh…" began Chris before Cadance cut it.

"Alright, I think that's enough excitement for one meeting," said Cadance.

"You know what, Chris?" asked Melinda, in an almost threatening tone.

"What?" challenged Chris.

"Enough!" exclaimed Cadance. "This is not the time or the place for this. And to be honest with you, it's just _stupid_. It is the _stupidest_ fight I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing. It's even more _stupid_ than any fight I've ever _engaged in_. And I've been in some pretty stupid ones before. One time Sirius and I argued about whether or not Superman could beat the Hulk!"

"The Hulk has superhuman rage!" exclaimed Sirius.

"But Superman is superhuman _all_ the time! Not just when he's angry!" exclaimed Cadance. McGonagall cleared her throat. "But that's neither here nor there. The point is, what does it _matter_ if she doesn't want to take some time off! Now I'll have no more words from the two of you. If the two of you have something you'd like to scream at each other, do it where you won't bother anyone else. If you still can't work out your problems, take them to the Quidditch Pitch and fight there. Minerva doesn't take too kindly to bloodshed in the castle."

"Fine!" exclaimed Chris, standing up and slamming the door open. "After you!"

"Fine!" responded Melinda, standing up and storming out of the room. Chris followed, slamming the door behind them.

"I've got five galleons that says they end up at the Quidditch Pitch," said Sirius. "Any takers?"

"No, thanks," said Arabella. "The last time I took _that_ bet, I never got paid."

"You've taken that bet before?" asked Cadance skeptically.

"Well, a similar one," said Arabella.

"When?" asked Cadance.

"How long have you been married?" asked Arabella.

"20 years in August," answered Cadance.

"So then it'd have been about 20 years ago," said Arabella. Cadance and Charlie exchanged a glance.

"So, I believe _someone_ here promised me an adventure," said Cati with a wide, mischievous grin.


	20. Revelations at Tipsy aka You Know?

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's.

**A/N: I had about 75 hits to the last chapter, but only one review (thank you Whitelighter Enchantress!). That makes me sad. Multiple people are reading the chapter, but not reviewing. Please please please please please REVIEW!**

**A/N 2: I just posted a new story: Beginnings. It's the prequel to Harry Potter and the Crystal of Gryffindor. Check it out! It basically follows Cadance and Cati's younger years, and shows what they were doing during the first four books, up until Harry Potter and the Crystal of Gryffindor, which starts in Harry's 5th Year. **

About fifteen minutes later, Melinda and Chris were back in the living room of their flat arguing. "You make me so mad sometimes!" exclaimed Melinda in frustration.

"Me? What about you!" he exclaimed. "What are you trying to prove, Melinda! Why do you refuse to take time off, when it could kill you?"

"This isn't about me and this isn't about being an Auror and this isn't about the fact that I don't want to take some time off, so stop pretending that it is!" exclaimed Melinda. "This is about _us_ and the fact that you're being a prick!"

"I'm not being a prick!" exclaimed Chris. "You're being a…. a…." He stood there fuming trying to think of a word.

"Oh, good comeback," said Melinda, rolling her eyes.

Then the door opened and Wyatt walked in. "So what have I missed?" he asked plopping down on the chair and putting his feet up on the ottoman.

"Wyatt, can you give us some privacy?" asked Melinda raising her eyebrows at him.

"Alright, I'm really tired anyway," said Wyatt with a yawn. "But make sure you raise your voices really loud so I can overhear everything from my room." He got up and walked down the hallway and out of sight.

Once they heard his door close, they started again, quieter this time. "Melinda, we _can't_ do this," said Chris. "It's not safe. It wouldn't be real."

"Stop saying that!" exclaimed Melinda picking up a pillow from the couch and launching it at his head.

"Melinda, what do you want from me?" asked Chris, fending off the pillow. "Do you want me to say that I'm in love with you?"

"You told me that once last summer," said Melinda. "Is it still true?"

"You never said it back," said Chris. Melinda sank into a chair and put her face in her hands. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

"So," said Bill as he and Charlie sat in their Common Room after they left the meeting. "Interesting evening." 

"Oh yeah," said Charlie flipping through the Daily Prophet for the third time.

"What do you think got into Melinda and Chris?" asked Bill.

"Apparently they had a fight and then they made up and now they're fighting again or something," said Charlie. "I don't know. I don't really understand these young kids these days."

"Good story, Grandpa," said Bill taking a section of the newspaper from him.

Just then, the door opened and Cadance and Cati ran through it, dripping wet. "What the hell...?" asked Charlie.

Cadance and Cati skidded to a halt in front of the fireplace and began warming themselves by it. They were shivering. "What were you doing?" asked Bill incredulously as he grabbed a blanket off the back of the chair and draped it over both of their shoulders.

"Having an adventure," said Cati.

"Oh boy," said Charlie.

Cati turned to look at Cadance. "I was right. The lake _wasn't_ frozen solid," she said very seriously.

"I noticed when we jumped in it," said Cadance.

"This means I get to get the first shower!" exclaimed Cati. She paused for a second then started running towards her room.

"We have two showers, Einstein!" exclaimed Cadance running for hers.

"Things are back to normal," said Charlie, grinning broadly.

"Thank God," said Bill.

* * *

Twenty minutes worth of an argument was taking its toll on Chris and Melinda. Both were tired and irritated with each other. "This is all your fault," said Melinda snippily. 

"First of all," began Chris tiredly, "What _exactly_ is my fault? And secondly, _how_ is it my fault?"

"This stupid fight! It's your fault!" exclaimed Melinda.

"How!"

"Because! Because it just is!" argued Melinda.

"Rational argument," said Chris sarcastically. He paused. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know," said Melinda. They stared at one another in silence for about half a minute, then she said, "I _do_ love you."

Chris sighed and then sat down next to her on the couch. He reached out and grabbed her hand. "I love you, too," he answered. "In fact, I love you so much that I can't be with you."

"That doesn't even make sense," said Melinda. She turned her head away from him, so he wouldn't see the tears forming in her eyes.

"Remember Auror training?" asked Chris. He waited a second for her to reply, but she didn't so he kept talking. "They sat us down and told us on the very first day that it's hard to be an Auror. Not because the training is difficult, or because you have to know complex spells, or because you have to be in good physical condition, or even because you spend most of your time being shot at. It's because the hours are long and you see stuff that makes it hard to have a relationship with anyone, let alone another Auror. We _chose_ this because it would have been selfish of us not to. We were born and bred for this. We knew what we were getting in to. We just didn't expect to fall in love. But we can't let that get in the way. Not with a Dark Lord on the loose. Aurors become detached and emotionless. After a while, they can't feel. We have to be Aurors."

"It doesn't have to be that way," said Melinda, turning to look back at him. "It's not in my nature to live like that. I _tried_. I _tried_ ignoring my feelings for you, and it didn't work. I _tried_ to become detached. I just _can't_. We don't _have to_ be detached and emotionless. There _are_ Aurors who make it work! Look at my mom! Look at my aunts and uncles!"

"They're different," said Chris. "That's rare for Aurors and you know that. They weren't falling in love as Voldemort was gaining power. Ron never had to think, 'well, I'll marry Hermione, but there's a good chance one of us won't come home from work this week!' Harry never thought, 'Gee, I wonder if Ginny will still be alive when I get home from work.' They do _now_. Voldemort was _gone_ then. He's here _now_."

"Do you think they _regret_ falling for each other then?" asked Melinda. "Do you think that _now_ they're thinking, 'Right, well, I wish I never got married or had children, because it's hard now that Voldemort's here'? They don't regret it, Chris! They _fight_ for it!"

"Don't you think a part of Bill and Wendy died when they thought Cati and Sirius were dead?" asked Chris.

"Whether we're together or not, it's going to hurt if we lose each other," replied Melinda. She paused. "My mom and dad! They got together when Voldemort's power was at its peak the last time around! _They_ made it work!"

"Your father proposed to your mother to keep her out of the Department of Mysteries," said Chris. Silently, Melinda stood up and walked over to the coat rack. She grabbed her cloak and put it on her shoulders. "Where are you going?" asked Chris.

"I'm going to Tipsy's," said Melinda. "I can't be around you right now."

"Oh yes. Large quantities of alcohol. That will help," said Chris sarcastically.

"I'm not going for the alcohol," responded Melinda. "I'm going for the company."

"It's Wednesday," said Chris. "Kala's not even there on Wednesdays. And you said that Wednesday bartender annoyed you."

"Yes, but at Tipsy's I can vanquish almost anyone I fight with," said Melinda. "_Here_, I am not so lucky. I need to get away from you for a while." She turned on her heel and Apparated out.

"She's going to get herself killed," said Chris to himself. He grabbed his cloak, turned on his heel, and Apparated out after her.

* * *

Wednesdays were the slowest nights for Tipsy's Tavern. It was because of this that Kala usually took the night off, and left the bartender for the evening in charge. However, as Cati and Sirius were, in fact, alive and not dead, a celebration of sorts was in order. True, they had had a small feast the night before, and dinner that day was slightly more extravagant than usual; but it hardly seemed enough. So after Cati and Cadance showered and regained the feeling back in their toes, they contacted Kala and told her that they would be coming in and bringing an entourage with them as soon as they could round one up. 

So that evening, Kala walked into her near-empty bar with a slight spring in her step, in anticipation of what was to come. "Kurt," she said to the bartender. "We're going to be having a bit of a party tonight. You'd better go in the backroom and stock up."

"Is Cati coming?" he asked. Kala nodded. "I'd better bring out more rum."

"That's the ticket," said Kala winking at him as he went into the backroom. Just then, the door opened and Cadance, Cati, Charlie, and Bill all entered. "Hey, I thought you were bringing a whole group of people."

"We are," said Cadance. "They're on their way. Jen and George aren't coming because Abby is still sick. Minerva is staying at Hogwarts because she things it would be irresponsible of her to leave, which might be true. Uncle Albus, Snape, and Hagrid are staying behind, too, because they said that they have no desire to see any of us soused up. Arthur and Molly decided not to come because Arthur didn't think it appropriate for the Minister to participate in our shenanigans and they _also_ had no desire to see any of us soused up. Sirius and Wendy are back at Remus's place. They're bubble-wrapping all the sharp corners along the path from the fireplace to the room that Sirius and Wendy are staying in… just as a precaution for Sirius. They'll be here as soon as they're done. As for the rest of the Order, Harry and Ginny are talking to the rest of the people in Godric's Hollow and coming right over after they round up all who are coming. Arabella, Mundungus, and Mad-eye should all be here shortly as well."

"And Melinda, Wyatt, and Chris?" added Kala.

"Well, we all voted and we decided that nobody wanted to be the one to interrupt Chris and Melinda's fight," said Cadance.

Cati was already behind the bar. "Kala!" she called. "Where's all the rum?"

"It's coming, Cati!" said Kala.

Harry and Ginny were the next to arrive. Ron and Hermione were with them. "What'd you do with Joseph?" asked Cati, as she took a bottle of rum off of Kurt as he was coming out of the backroom.

"He's asleep. I'm only staying for about an hour though. Rowena and Helga offered to baby-sit for a while since they didn't want to come, and Godric offered to sit quietly, not wake him up, and let the Rowena and Helga deal with everything else," said Hermione.

Just then, the door opened rather enthusiastically and Sirius ran in. He had a giant roll of bubble wrap under his arm, and Wendy and Remus were right behind him. "Let's get this started!" exclaimed Sirius exuberantly.

"What's with the bubble wrap?" asked Cati after taking a giant swig of rum.

"Left-overs," answered Sirius. "I figured we could have fun with it later."

"I like where your head is at," said Cati smiling.

"So who are we still waiting on?" asked Ginny.

"Just Arabella, Mundungus, and Moody, but they said they'd arrive a little later,' answered Cadance.

"Great! Line 'em up, Kurt!" exclaimed Kala. Everyone crowded around the bar, as Kurt poured several shots of tequila. Everyone took one except Cati, who was set with her bottle of rum, and Hermione, who decided not to drink because she wanted to be completely sober when she went home.

"A toast!" exclaimed Kala. They all raised their shot glasses. "To Cati and Sirius, for not being dead!"

"To Cadance and Harry, for finally coming to rescue us!" exclaimed Sirius.

"To Wendy, for finally getting Sirius to propose!" added Bill.

"To the Order of the Phoenix, for keeping life interesting," added Cadance with a wink.

The door opened yet again, interrupting their toasting. They all paused, their glasses still raised in mid-air, expecting Arabella, Mundungus, and/or Moody. However, it was Melinda that entered. She cocked an eyebrow at them.

"Heyyyy!" added Cati. "To Melinda, for letting all the warm air out! Close the door!"

Melinda started to close the door, when Chris pushed his way through it. "Melinda, listen…" he began. Then he noticed everyone else, standing there staring with glasses raised. "Hello."

"Aren't we supposed to drink after _every_ toast?" asked Ginny as Chris closed the door, and he and Melinda made their way over to them.

"No, that's too many," said Charlie. "We're too old and mature for that."

"Speak for yourself," said Cati, winking.

"Alright, alright, last one, last one, _then_ we're drinking," said Harry. "Melinda, Chris, grab a glass." Kurt poured too more shots, and Chris and Melinda raised them as well. "To Voldemort. May he rot in hell." And with that, everyone—save Hermione— raised their glasses to their lips and drank, and then cheered.

Everyone began talking excitedly, and Kurt began to serve more alcohol. Melinda and Chris went to the far end of the bar, away from everyone else, and talked quietly to each other. Cati, from where she was sitting (which happened to be _on_ the bar), eyed them curiously. "Hey, Cadance," said Cati, looking down at her friend. "Did Melinda and Chris make up?"

"Cati, I've barely left your side since they left fighting. I don't know any more than you do," said Cadance. "I assumed they did when they showed up here together." Cati nodded in Melinda and Chris's direction, and Cadance turned her head to look.

"Oh, yeah," said Cadance. "That's fishy. They're either fighting or conspiring. Should we do something?"

"_You_ shouldn't," said Cati sliding down off the bar. "Don't worry, I've got this one."

"I automatically worry when she says that," said Charlie shaking his head as Cati walked towards Melinda and Chris.

Cati sidled up between them and draped her arms around her shoulders, still holding her bottle of rum. "Hey, kids," she said smiling.

"Aunt Cati?" asked Melinda. "Are you drunk?"

"Not yet, dear," said Cati. "So how are things with you two?"

"Uhh," said Chris looking from Cati to Melinda.

"So you're still fighting then?" asked Cati. "Hold on, one second." She turned around and called to Cadance. "Don't worry, they're not conspiring!" She turned back around. "Alright, what's this fight really about? You can tell your Aunt Cati."

"Aunt Cati…" began Melinda, before Cati interrupted her.

"Well, we all know it's not really about you taking some time off, because that is the stupidest thing to fight over, and I know neither of you are stupid," said Cati. "So what's it really about?"

Melinda looked away. Chris said, "It's nothing, Cati. Really."

"Really," repeated Cati. She paused and looked at the bar. "Alright then. Let's have another toast. Just us three." She leaned over the bar and got three shot glasses from underneath. She poured rum from her bottle into all three. "Come on, take a glass." They hesitated and then obeyed. "To Melinda and Chris." They exchanged a look. "May the two of you get your heads out of your asses and realize that you're _both_ right and that it _would_ be selfish of you two to be together in times like this, but _everyone_ is entitled to be a little selfish every little once in a while. Follow your hearts, or it will kill you." She took her shot as Melinda and Chris stared at her in shock.

"How…?" trailed off Chris.

"Oh, I know everything," said Cati. "Don't worry. Your secret is safe with me."

"How long have you known?" asked Melinda.

"I've suspected since last August," said Cati. "But I didn't know for sure until today."

"Have you said anything to anyone else?" asked Chris.

"Not a soul," answered Cati. "But now, kiddies, I'm going to go back over there and give you some privacy so you can discuss this. And I'm taking my rum with me." She picked up the bottle and kissed it and walked back over to the other end of the bar.

"So what's going on down there?" asked Bill.

"Eh, they're just talking," said Cati.

"She doesn't want to tell us," said Charlie pointing at Cati. "She _knows_ something and she doesn't want to say."

Cadance gasped. "You're keeping a secret!" she said with wide eyes.

"Don't be silly," said Sirius, joining in on their conversation. "Everyone knows Cati can't keep a secret: especially not from you, Cadance."

"Alright, everyone just calm down," said Cati, putting her arms up defensively, with rum still in hand. "This is not the time or the place for this."

"I'll get it out of her by the end of the night," said Cadance. "As long as we've got a few more bottles of rum."

"Hey, guys! Check this out!" exclaimed Sirius. He took a large strip of bubble wrap off of the roll and laid it on the bar. Then he climbed on top and started jumping on it. They could hear the bubbles popping.

"Truly amazing," said Harry. He put his hand on Wendy's shoulder. "Wendy, if you're planning on having kids, I truly hope there's nothing to heredity."

"I do!" exclaimed Cati, hopping up on the bar and shoving Sirius over a little bit so she could jump on the bubble wrap, too.

At that precise moment, Arabella, Mundungus, and Moody all walked in together. They stopped just inside the door and stared confusedly at Cati and Sirius. "Welcome to bar of the insane," said deadpanned Chris as they walked past him and Melinda. He turned back to Melinda so they could continue their conversation. "Let's get out of here. We'll go back to the flat and we'll talk where it's quiet."

"I don't want to," said Melinda. "I don't want to be where it's quiet."

"People will wonder what we're sitting here talking about," said Chris.

"Let them wonder," said Melinda. "We don't have much else to say to each other anyway."

"Don't say that," said Chris. "Don't…"

"_No_," interrupted Melinda. "It won't be worth _anything_ if I have to talk you into being with me. You have to want it, too. And obviously you don't. There's nothing else to say here." She started to get up, but Chris grabbed her arm and looked at her with pleading eyes.

"Don't walk away mad," he whispered.

"I'm not," said Melinda. "I'm not mad. I'm hurt. I'm sad. I'm detached, like you said I needed to be. _I'm an Auror_."

"You can't be detached and hurt at the same time. It doesn't work that way," said Chris.

"Chris, I'm going to put on a fake smile and go over there and join in on their little celebration," said Melinda pulling her arm from his grasp. "After a while, I'm going to go home and go into my room and have a good cry. When we wake up in the morning, we're going to have Wyatt makes us pancakes and we're going to pretend like we never fell in love. And then we're going to do our jobs, because apparently that's more important than our happiness." She walked to the other end of the bar where everyone else was huddled together. Chris paused, and then followed.

"Are the two of you done fighting yet?" asked Sirius curiously.

Melinda and Chris turned to look at Cati. "What?" exclaimed Cati defensively. "I didn't say anything!"

"So there _is_ something to say!" exclaimed Cadance hopping up and pointing at her. "You _are_ keeping a secret."

"Mom, it's nothing," said Melinda rolling her eyes.

"I can't believe you're keeping a secret, Cati," said Charlie. "You've never done that before!"

"Ummm… hello!" exclaimed Cadance. "Doesn't anyone else remember a little conversation that went something like this…" Cadance continued in a squeaky voice that was a bad imitation of Cati. "_Oh, I **am** dating Bill. Actually we're engaged! Oh and by the way we're getting married in Disney World in **THREE DAYS**_!"

"Are you still bitter about that?" asked Cati.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Cadance. "I mean, you just _sprung _that on us!"

"Look who's talking, little Miss I'm-engaged-to-Charlie-even-though-we-weren't-even-dating-because-he-proposed-just-to-keep-me-out-of-the-Deapartment-of-Mysteries!" exclaimed Cati.

Sirius snorted out a laugh and had to hide his face in his beer mug. "Hey!" exclaimed Cadance pointing at Cati. She paused for a second, and it looked as if she was debating on whether or not she should say something. "You don't know that whole story!"

"Of course I do," said Cati. "You _told_ me the whole story. You tell me everything."

Cadance exchanged a glance with Charlie. "Should we tell them?" asked Charlie.

"It's been over 20 years, Charlie, there's no way Cati can be mad about it now," said Cadance.

"You think?" asked Charlie. "Alright, _you_ tell her then. Just give me a minute to get situated." He climbed over the bar and grabbed a broom from the corner. He held it in front of him, as if ready to fend off anyone who tried to attack him. "Okay, Cadance, explain to Cati and the rest of them 'the whole story', as you say."

"Oh, I've _got_ to hear this," said Remus, turning on his stool to devote full attention to Cadance.

"What is it?" asked Cati, growing impatient.

"Are we going to need some popcorn?" asked Kala.

"No, but you should take that bottle off of Cati," said Charlie, giving Kala a poke.

Cati fairly growled at him and hugged the bottle closer. "One of you two better start talking soon or you'll witness the wrath of a Sorceress who is out of control," said Cati, whose patience wore thin quickly when slightly intoxicated.

"Alright, but don't you dare make a big deal about this," said Cadance, trying to ease her into whatever she was trying to tell her. "Charlie and I… our engagement _wasn't_ as spur of the moment as it may have seemed."

"You were DATING!" exclaimed Cati, jumping up and dropping her bottle of rum on the floor, causing it to shatter.

"Whoa! Charlie!" exclaimed Ron. "And nobody ever knew?"

"We weren't _dating_, per se…" began Cadance.

"You hooked up!" exclaimed Harry.

"No! That's not it!" exclaimed Cadance defensively.

"Bullshit! You hooked up!" exclaimed Harry.

"No, it wasn't like that," said Cadance. "Look, do you want to hear this story or not?"

"I don't know," said Remus. "We may be able to come up with a better one ourselves."

"Spill, Cadance Weasley!" exclaimed Cati, with such force that Charlie waved the broom a little bit.

"It was the second summer after we graduated from Hogwarts," said Cadance. "Charlie and I realized that we _had feelings_ for each other… as more than friends."

"And you never told me?" exclaimed Cati.

"I didn't think there was anything _to_ tell," said Cadance. "Charlie and I discussed it, and we decided that it wouldn't work. I was an Auror. I had a job to do. And on top of that, I knew Voldemort would be coming back soon. I didn't think it would be fair to _us_ to try to have a relationship. I figured if Voldemort didn't get one or the other of us, the stress would drive us apart. We didn't want to lose each other as friends."

"So you just _weren't_ together? For all those years?" asked Melinda.

"Well, for one week out of the year for the next few years, we were," said Charlie. "But that was it."

"One week out of the year?" asked Cati.

"Yeah, remember that one week in August where you used to go to your Poker tournament in Vegas?" asked Cadance.

Cati thought for a second, and then she chuckled. "Oh yeah."

"Well, for the next few years, during that week, we went on vacation together and for that _one week_ out of the year, we were a couple," answered Charlie.

"How long did you do that for?" asked Ginny.

"Five years," answered Cadance. "Until I started working here."

Bill got a pensive look on his face as he tapped his fingers on the bar, then he turned to Charlie and said, "That one year when you said you were going out of town for work, but you didn't come back with a single cut or burn and I thought it was strange…"

"On vacation with Cadance," said Charlie.

"And that time you said you were going on a trip to discover your spiritual side…"

Charlie chuckled. "Yeah, I can't believe you bought that one," he said with a laugh. He stopped laughing immediately as Cati gave him the evil eye.

"What made the two of you change your minds?" asked Melinda.

"Well, your father proposed, and I said yes, so I figured we might as well get into a relationship, as we were going to be married," said Cadance.

"_Mom,_" said Melinda rolling her eyes.

"No, seriously," said Cadance. "He proposed and I just _said yes_ without even thinking about all those reasons that we decided that we wouldn't be together. It was all bullshit anyway."

"I changed my mind when I found out she was still alive. We thought she and Minerva were dead, but they were just in Voldemort's lair, and they escaped and came back," said Charlie. "After they got back, I went and bought a ring the first chance I got. And I _did not _propose to her to keep her out of the Department of Mysteries. It was just a perk that came with proposing. However, it did make me propose a full day earlier than I had planned, and in a much less romantic way."

"It was plenty romantic, dear," said Cadance winking at him. She turned her attention to Cati, who was glowering at her. "Bitter?"

"I can't believe you gave me shit for not telling _you_ about me and Bill," said Cati.

"I'm sorry," said Cadance. "I knew you'd react badly and it would make things awkward when we were around Charlie! And I didn't think it would matter since nobody ever knew."

Arabella started laughing at that. "You thought nobody ever knew!" she asked with a laugh.

"You did!" asked Cadance and Charlie at the same time.

"Ha Ha!" exclaimed Cati. "Your little secret wasn't so secret!"

"Oh, hush, Catalin, I knew about you and Bill, too," said Arabella with annoyance.

"What!" exclaimed Cati. She turned to Bill and punched him in the arm. "You couldn't keep your big fat mouth shut!"

"Ow! I didn't do anything!" exclaimed Bill.

"Hush up, all of you," said Arabella. "Nobody had to say anything. Don't think that we don't know what's going on with all of you at all times! Not one of you is nearly as tricky as you think."

"It's true you know," said a voice from behind them. They all turned to see McGonagall, who had come to make sure there were no drunken shenanigans. "We know everything. You're all as transparent as glass."

"I'm transparent?" asked Cati.

"Well… you're a bit more like _frosted_ glass when it comes to that mouth of yours," said McGonagall. "But you're still _mostly_ transparent."

"How did you know about me and Charlie!" asked Cadance.

"Your uncle and I suspected when he beat up Bobby Bruges for putting the moves on you," answered McGonagall.

"But nothing happened until after that," said Cadance.

"Just because _you_ had no idea, that doesn't mean we didn't," answered McGonagall. "We knew for sure the first year you two went away on vacation. You came back _tan_, Cadance. We're not stupid."

"You said you went to the pool!" exclaimed Cati angrily.

"Well, to be fair, she _did_ go to the pool," answered Charlie. Cati glared and him again, and Charlie waved the broom in front of him a couple of times in case she decided to leap over the bar.

"So you know _everything_?" asked Melinda, almost nervously.

"Just about," answered McGonagall wisely. "But I rarely tell all I know, so you're lucky."

Chris and Melinda exchanged a look. Chris looked McGonagall up and down and then narrowed his eyes a bit. "You _don't know_," he said skeptically.

"Oh, don't I?" asked McGonagall, raising an eyebrow at him. "Alright, I _don't know_ that the two of you are in love."

"You know!" exclaimed Cati, Melinda, and Chris at the same time.

"Oh, Cati, was _that_ the secret?" asked Cadance. "I _knew_ that!"

"You know!" exclaimed Melinda, securing the phrase "you know!" as the official catchphrase and title of this chapter.

"Yeah, of course!" said Cadance. "Who here already knew that Chris and Melinda were in love?" Everyone put their hands into the air.

"Ginny, Jen, and I talk about it all the time," added Hermione. "We sit around and watch the kids and talk about you guys. Joseph said the _funniest_ thing about it the other day when he overheard us…"

"Even _Joseph_ knows? God, it's impossibly to keep a secret in this family!" exclaimed Melinda frustratingly. "How did you possibly know!"

"I've known since before you were _born_," said Cadance. "Look, 19 years ago, we fought Voldemort. Chris's father and mother and mother's sisters happened to join us, and when Piper and I shook hands, there was this strange light that erupted from us. We were informed that we just formed a bond, that was deeper than the battle we were about to have. After I found out I was pregnant, but before Charlie and I left the Wizarding World, I found out that Piper was pregnant as well. Well, I was pregnant during the final battle and I figured Piper probably was as well. So I put two and two together and figured _that_ was what was the deeper meaning behind the flash of light. You two are _destined_ to be together." Chris and Melinda stared at her blankly. "Well, geez, didn't you realize why Piper and Leo chose to send their sons to _Hogwarts_ instead of one of the more conveniently located American schools? Piper knew too!"

"If it makes the two of you feel better, I didn't know until Christmas," said Harry.

"No, it really doesn't, Uncle Harry," said Melinda dejectedly.

"Aww, Melinda," said Cati, her voice full of understanding. "Here, have some rum!" She grabbed another bottle and opened it.

"Cati, may I remind you that you have students to teach tomorrow morning?" asked McGonagall. Cati winked at her and took a long swig. "Oh, sweet Merlin," said McGonagall rolling her eyes.

"So," said Sirius, turning back to Melinda and Chris. "Have you two shacked up at all yet?"

Cadance and Cati both spit out their drinks and began coughing and sputtering. Melinda and Chris's eyes grew wide and their jaws dropped. Charlie put his hands over his ears and started screaming, "LALALALALALALALALALALALA! I CAN'T HEAR THIS! I'M NOT LISTENING! LALALALALALALA!"

"Sirius!" exclaimed Wendy, giving him a shove. "Don't you ever think before you speak!

"It's about time someone told them about the birds and the bees, and it might as well be their Uncle Sirius!" exclaimed Sirius defensively. "Now look… when a man and woman love each other… Well, actually, they don't have to _love _each other. When a man and woman are both _horny_…"

"Oh God," said Wendy putting her face in her hands.

"Alright, let's get out of here," said Chris grabbing Melinda's hand. They both hopped up and ran out of the bar

"Way to go, sonny!" Sirius called after them.

"That's it," said Wendy. "Cati, grab the bubble wrap!"

------------------------------------------------------------------

"Melinda, this is over," said Chris once they got back to their flat. "This _back and forth_ thing we keep doing. You were right before. We can't do this."

"Yes, we can!" said Melinda forcefully. "You were saying it's not safe… well what is! The entire world is _not safe_ right now. _You_ were right. _This_ isn't over. _This _is what's real." She grabbed him by the collar of his robes and kissed him. He hesitated for a moment then kissed back.

She let go and he stumbled back a step and gaped at her. They locked eyes for a second then Chris stepped forward and grabbed Melinda's face, pulling her in for another kiss. They were in the middle of this kiss when they heard Wyatt's door open and he walked sleepily into the room. They quickly stopped kissing, and Chris pulled his head away, but he left his hands on Melinda's face. "Ah yes, I see now," said Chris. "You're right! Your eyes _are_ blue!"

"I'm sleepy, I'm not stupid," yawned Wyatt as he walked into the kitchen. They heard the water running. Chris chuckled and leaned his forehead up against Melinda's. Then, Wyatt walked back out of the kitchen holding a glass of water. "I scored higher on my OWLs and NEWTs than you guys. Don't try to fool me." He shuffled back down the hallway. "Be safe, kids!" Then they heard his door close.

"This isn't going to be easy," said Chris looking Melinda in the eyes.

"Try having your mom for a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, your dad for a Care of Magical Creatures professor, and your aunt for a Transfiguration professor," said Melinda. "This will be a piece of cake."

**End Note: Please review! Just let me know you're reading! Let me know what you like and what you don't like and stuff. I'd really appreciate it.**


	21. In Which Harry Makes Them Run

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's.

A/N: **Please review! Let me know if you like it!**

The next morning at Breakfast, the Head Table was quite subdued, as it was lacking four fairly noisy members. "Minerva?" asked Dumbledore after they all had served themselves.

"Yes, Albus?" asked McGonagall turning to look at him.

"Where are Cadance, Charlie, Bill, and Cati?" he asked.

"How in heaven's name should I know?" asked McGonagall.

"What time did they get in last night?" asked Dumbledore.

"I left Tipsy's around midnight and they were still there," said McGonagall. "They were just getting into a rousing chorus of _Bye Bye Miss American Pie_ while Sirius was wrapped up in bubble wrap and was running around, bumping into things."

"Did anything interesting happen there last night?" asked Dumbledore.

McGonagall paused for a second as she quickly thought back to the events of last night: from all the revelations to Sirius's bubble wrap dance. "No," she said simply shaking her head and taking a bite of toast.

Just then, Cati bounced in. Charlie, Cadance, and Bill walked in very tentatively after her. They looked tired. Cati, however, looked wide-awake. "Good morning!" she exclaimed happily.

Cadance winced. "Cati, use your indoor voice, please," she said heavily as they all took their seats. "My head is killing me."

"Hangover?" asked McGonagall.

"I don't remember anything after rescuing Sirius from that demon he accidentally bumped into," said Cadance rubbing her head.

"Well, after that, there was a game of pool that nobody won because we were trying to use shot glasses as cue balls," said Charlie. "Oh, by the way, Kala says we have to clean all the broken glass off of her pool table before she opens up tonight."

"Right, then, we all had a round of drinks on this demon who was celebrating the anniversary of the first time he was vanquished," said Bill. "And then we kind of just hung out and at some point we sang the Hogwarts School Song."

"Vaguely, I recall Ron and Harry having a rather dodgy game of darts," said Cadance scrunching up her face as if she was trying to remember.

"Dodgy? How so?" asked Dumbledore.

"There is no dartboard at Tipsy's Tavern," said Bill. "Let's just leave it at that."

Charlie, Cadance, and Bill were all barely touching their breakfasts. Cati, on the other hand, was shoveling in food like she hadn't eaten in months. McGonagall eyed her suspiciously. "Cati, how are you not as hung-over as the other three?" she asked.

"Oh, I don't get hung-over," said Cati. "I'm too perky!"

"I hate you," said Cadance narrowing her eyes at her. Cati blew her a kiss.

"Buck up, Cadance," said McGonagall. "Now that you all have that out of your system, you've got plenty of work to do."

"What work?" asked Cadance.

"You mean besides teaching classes today?" asked McGonagall.

"Ah, molding the minds of young witches and wizards and preparing them for the death, destruction, and travesty that's awaiting them once they leave the safety of these walls," said Cati.

"We have a meeting with the students who want to take that Auror class today before dinner," continued McGonagall ignoring her.

Cadance groaned. "It's Friday!" she exclaimed in argument.

"We also have an Order Meeting after dinner," added McGonagall. Cadance groaned again.

"Cadance Rose, you were the one who called the meeting, so don't groan about it," said Dumbledore pointedly.

"So who's up for Round Two at Kala's bar tonight after the meeting?" asked Cati excitedly. Cadance, Charlie, and Bill all exchanged a look.

* * *

"So was there a nice turn-out at the meeting?" asked Remus as they were gathered in the Order meeting room, waiting for the meeting to start. He was, of course, referring to McGonagall, Harry, Cadance, and Cati's meeting with the students who would be taking their Auror class in the evenings for the next few months and then taking it as a regular class next year.

"We've got our work cut out for us," said Cati.

"Was Molly there?" asked Hermione.

"Molly and James were both there," answered Cadance. "We only opened it up to 5th Years and above, much to Cati's displeasure."

"I'm just saying that we should start them younger!" argued Cati.

"How will Molly and James do, do you think?" asked Ron.

"Well, Molly's O.W.L scores from last year were as high as her mother's," said Cadance winking at Hermione. "She's book-smart, that's for sure, and she certainly has the skill. But we'll have to see how well she can apply what she knows to a real-life situation."

"And James?" asked Harry.

Cadance chuckled a little. "He certainly has the skill. He's far too clever for his own good," she said.

"Too clever for his own good?" asked Harry.

"Yes, well, he's exactly like you, Harry," said Cadance. "Except you had that whole 'Boy-Who-Lived' thing hanging over your head so you kind of just accepted the fact that trouble would find you and you waited around for it, instead of going out to find it yourself. James is constantly looking for an adventure."

"What kinds of adventures?" asked Ginny with concern.

"Oh, nothing dangerous," said Cadance, trying to reassure Ginny. "It's more like he's trying to see how far he can go. He's constantly sneaking off and wandering the castle after curfew. It's stuff like that. He's clever enough to get around Filch and most of the other teachers without getting caught. Unfortunately, James's problem is that he knows he's clever, but he thinks he's cleverer than he actually is because he hasn't gotten caught. What he doesn't know is that just because he hasn't been _caught_, that doesn't mean that we don't _know_ exactly what he's doing."

"Is that going to get him in trouble?" asked Ginny.

"Most definitely," said Cadance. "But it'll turn out fine. Cati and I thought we were far cleverer than we actually were, but Uncle Albus actually knew everything we were doing. We turned out half-way decent."

"You never finished your 6th Year," pointed out McGonagall. "You ran away."

"We came back for our 7th!" argued Cati. "Honestly, Minerva, give it a rest! You're not going to get that paper from us!"

"Alright, but here's the real question," said Remus. "How many of the people who turned up for the meeting actually _want_ to be Aurors when they leave Hogwarts?"

"It's difficult to say," said Cati. "Many of them, it seems, just want to take the class to help prepare themselves in case they're ever attacked; almost as if it's just a second Defense Against the Dark Arts class."

"Well, technically that's what it is," said Cadance. "It's basically throws together all the different skills you need from your different classes in order to become an Auror."

"Right, which reminds me," said Cati, looking to her uncle. "Uncle Severus, how much do you love me?"

Snape sneered at her. "That's a dangerous question, Catalin; are you sure you want to ask it? What is it that you want?"

"Well, naturally, if we're combining all the different skills, we're going to need to show these students what kinds of potions that Aurors need," said Cati. "And as you are well aware, our potion skills leave much to be desired."

"If you can't make the potions that you need as Aurors, how the hell did you get accepted into the Auror Training program?" asked Jen inquisitively.

"Well, we _passed_ the Potions portion of our N.E.W.T.s," answered Cati. "But, also, we can do this." She punctuated her last sentence by pulling her arm back and throwing a fireball at the wall.

"You're the Potion's Master's niece," commented Harry. "Surely you couldn't have been that bad!"

"Oh, but they were," said Snape, his lip curling. "Far worse than you were, Potter."

"Yes, we actually blew up the dungeons _three times_ in our 7th Year," said Cati.

"That third time wasn't an accident," muttered Cadance under her breath, winking at Harry. Hermione clicked her tongue with disapproval.

"Out of curiosity, how much trouble does one get into for blowing up the dungeons?" asked Harry.

"Oh so much," said Cadance. "That was the year that we broke Sirius's record for the most number of detentions in one year; a record that to this day remains unbroken, much to George's dismay."

"Fred and I were so close to breaking their record," said George, shaking his head. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Well, you didn't cause nearly so much trouble as we did," said Cati. "We were the best."

"Oh, please, you were amateurs!" exclaimed Sirius.

"How would you know? You were in Azkaban," said Cadance.

"There's no way you two would be any match for me, Remus, and James," said Sirius cockily.

"That's probably true, Cadance," said Harry. "I mean they _did_ invent the Marauder's Map, without which neither you and Cati nor Fred and George would have had nearly as easy a time being mischievous… Why are you waving your arms like that?"

He hadn't noticed until he finished his sentence that Cadance, Cati, Sirius, Remus, and George had begun making wild motions with their hands at his mention of the Marauder's Map, trying to get him to stop. "The Marauder's what now?" asked McGonagall, her interest roused. She peered at them menacingly.

"Harry," said Cadance a little too calmly as she closed her eyes and pressed her fingertips to her temples. "Are you insane? On what planet do you think it would be wise to alert everyone to the existence of a map that would enable the users unthinkable mischief-making powers?"

"How was I supposed to know they didn't know!" exclaimed Harry. "Last night they pretty much proved that they know _everything_! I assumed that they knew about the map, too!"

"Explain yourselves," said McGonagall dangerously.

"Well, it's a _map_ that shows all of Hogwarts and all of its secret passageways and also there are little labeled dots that show where everyone is," answered Hermione, who knew answering McGonagall plainly would be the best course of action in a situation like this.

"It's not illegal!" argued Cati, before McGonagall could even say anything.

"It's an _aid_ to the irresponsible," sneered Snape.

"You knew about it?" asked McGonagall.

"Not until it passed into the hands of Potter, Weasley, and Granger-now-Weasley," said Snape.

"We got it from Fred and George!" exclaimed Ron, so McGonagall would turn her focus from them.

"Well, we found it in Filch's office under _her_ advice," said George pointing at Cadance.

"_They_ made it!" exclaimed Cadance pointing at Sirius and Remus.

"Hey, she _stole_ it from my house after I got chucked into Azkaban! I didn't _give _it to her," said Sirius defensively.

"Yeah, but he _did_ give it to James!" exclaimed Cadance.

"He WHAT!" exclaimed Harry, Ginny, and McGonagall at the same time.

"How did you know!" exclaimed Sirius.

"I _confiscated_ it from him after he fell in the lake in January!" shouted Cadance without thinking.

"He fell in the lake!" exclaimed Ginny and Harry.

"You _confiscated_ it!" exclaimed Sirius, as if that was the big issue. "You deprived him…"

"Shutup, Sirius," said Harry before turning back to Cadance. "He fell in the lake?"

"About two months ago, James was looking at the map and he saw Melinda and a demon fighting out on the lake so he ran out there to help her and he fell through but I fished him out all right and brought him to the Hospital Wing and I took the map from him, because really I thought my uses for it would be more productive," said Cadance. "And this is what I'm talking about when I said he's always looking for an adventure, but no harm done!" Harry and Ginny clearly looked as if they didn't think there was no harm done.

"Let me see this map," said McGonagall. Cadance sighed and reached into her pockets and pulled out the map.

"_I solemnly swear that I am up to no good_," said Cadance, tapping it. McGonagall reached out and took it as lines began to appear all over it, revealing the Hogwarts grounds.

Just then, the door opened and Melinda, Wyatt, and Chris walked in, ready for the meeting. "Hey, the Marauder's Map!" exclaimed Melinda happily.

McGonagall looked at Cadance pointedly. "That wasn't me!" argued Cadance.

"Sit down," ordered McGonagall at the three newcomers, as she looked back down to inspect the map. "We're just waiting on Albus, Merlin, and the Founders and then we'll begin." She looked back up. "Honestly, didn't any of you stop to think what something like this could do in the hands of the wrong person?"

"Yeah, that's what Molly said when James showed it to us," said Melinda.

"Molly, too?" asked McGonagall exasperatedly. "Have you corrupted Vivien as well since she's started Hogwarts?"

"Aw gee, Minerva, Vivien's corrupted anyway; she was raised by Cati and Bill!" exclaimed Cadance. This time it was Cati and Bill's turn to scowl at her.

"Who's corrupted now?" asked Dumbledore's voice as he, Merlin, Godric, Rowena, and Helga walked in.

"Did you know about the Marauder's Map?" asked McGonagall accusingly.

"The Marauder's Map?" asked Dumbledore, his gaze fell on it. "Er, no."

"You're lying," said McGonagall with a scowl.

"Perhaps we should start the meeting," said Cadance, stepping in. She knew that McGonagall couldn't kill her, or anyone, over this Marauder's Map issue with her uncle there.

"Yes, but before we start, would anyone else like to spring anything on me?" asked McGonagall, resuming her dangerous tone of voice. "Any secret children perhaps? Love affairs? Horrible hidden crimes?"

Melinda and Chris exchanged a look. Chris shrugged, and then said, "Melinda and I are dating."

"I told you he got some last night," said Sirius to Remus.

Cadance shrieked and threw her hands over her ears and Charlie allowed his head to fall forward and slam off the table. Everyone else shook their heads in disbelief.

"I bet you wouldn't mind a little trip to Tipsy's _now_, eh Cadance?" asked Cati, nudging Cadance's side.

* * *

Months ticked by. The weather became warmer. With the warm weather came a sort of lull in the Death Eater attacks, which was quite a relief for our beloved characters. However, as March was coming to a close, Harry sprung something on them all at an Order meeting that would most certainly liven things up.

"Alright, listen up," he said as the meeting commenced, before Cadance could start. She cocked an eyebrow at him, and he nodded an acknowledgement at her. "I think it's about time we go through some extra training."

"More training?" asked Jen, wrinkling her nose.

"Like Auror Camp!" exclaimed Cati in horror, hopping up, eyes wide. "No! At Auror Camp…" She was cut off as Cadance jumped up and clamped a hand over Cati's mouth.

"Is that _never talking about it again_!" she hissed at her, forcing her back into her chair.

"Uh… no, not like Auror Camp," said Harry, slightly distracted by the outburst. "But it will be _just_ for the Aurors, as I concede I have no control over the rest of you. Tomorrow morning at 8:00 sharp, meet me outside at the front doors. Make sure you're dressed appropriately."

"Appropriately for what?" questioned Hermione.

"To train," Harry said smugly. "Oh, and wear sneakers, please."

* * *

At 8:00 the next morning, Harry was waiting patiently for all the Aurors in the Order of the Phoenix. Ginny, Jen, Ron, and Hermione were all sitting on the stairs. Remus and Sirius were standing behind them. They were waiting patiently for the rest to show up. Harry scowled. "I said 8:00 sharp," he said.

"Maybe they forgot," suggested Ginny stifling a yawn.

"Here come Melinda, Wyatt, and Chris," said Ron, nodding behind Harry. He turned to see them coming up from Hogsmeade.

"Who are we still missing then?" asked Jen as the three young Aurors, joined the group, giving Harry apologetic looks.

"Just Cadance and Cati," answered Harry.

"What about Moody, Arabella, and McGonagall?" asked Melinda.

"They're doing something else for me," answered Harry. Sirius was about to ask why they didn't have to be out here, when the front doors opened and Cati and Cadance came out. "You're late."

"We were looking for sneakers," said Cati, lifting her foot as proof. "I haven't worn anything besides Auror-issued boots in forever!"

"Let's just get started," said Harry.

"Wait," said Cadance. "We're missing…"

"Arabella, Minerva, and Alastor are working on plans for the next few lessons in the Auror class. We're going to move into more difficult things," interrupted Harry.

"Wait, so they don't have to do this?" asked Cati.

"No, well, they're a bit too… er… _aged_ for what we're about to do," said Harry. "Technically they _are_ retired."

"What?" asked Sirius.

"Well, we're going to start with running…"

"Whoa! Wait a second!" exclaimed Cadance. "I _DID NOT _sign on for this!"

"This is like _muggle_ training!" exclaimed Cati. "This is _worse_ than Auror Camp!"

"Actually, I think this is probably a very good…" began Hermione, but one look from Cadance and Cati shut her up.

"Look, it's all well and good if you can fire spells at Death Eaters, but there's often a _physical_ aspect to Death Eater battles that we should work on!" argued Harry.

"We do _fine_," said Cadance exasperatedly.

"Fine won't cut it," said Harry bluntly. "We need to work on speed and agility and reflexes; stuff like that."

"Why do McGonagall, Moody, and Arabella get to skip then?" asked Cadance.

"I told you, they're not as spry as they used to be," began Harry.

Cadance snorted. "Minerva McGonagall is in better shape than _I_ am."

"And that's why _you_ need to be here and she doesn't," said Harry.

"I did _not_ see that backfiring like that," said Cadance

"Besides," added Harry. "When we're working on some other things they're going to be joining us. Now let's go. We're going to jog around the castle a few times…" Collectively, they groaned and then started to jog around the castle.

"You know," said Cati as they started their fourth lap. "Saturdays are supposed to be my _one day_ that I get to sleep in and relax. This is _not_ relaxing."

"We're at war, Catalin," said Harry. "We don't get to relax."

"When are we going to stop?" asked Jen, panting. "We've must have run for at least a mile!"

"Closer to two miles actually," said Harry. "Or at least it will be when we finish this lap. After this lap, we're going to full-out run one lap and then we'll be done until tomorrow."

"Run!" exclaimed Cadance.

"Yes, _run_," said Harry. "And you're wasting your breath screaming at me; you should save it or you'll get winded in the next lap." They ran in silence until the reached the front doors again. Everyone groaned as Harry urged them into a sprint for the last lap around the castle.

After the torturous half-mile lap around the castle, everyone except Harry collapsed in a heap on the front stairs. "Very good," said Harry after pausing to catch his breath. Nearly everyone glared daggers at him; clearly they did _not_ think this was 'very good'.

"I don't think I can stand," said Cati. "I honestly think I'm going to lie here and die."

"Stop being melodramatic," ordered Harry. "Today was just a little warm-up for tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow?" asked Jen with horror.

"Yes, tomorrow we're going to run some more," said Harry. "And then we're going to work on our reflexes after our run."

"We have to do something _after_ we run?" asked Sirius incredulously.

"I am _not_ doing this again," said Ron staring at Harry like he was mad. "Sorry, mate."

"Yes, you will," said Harry. He was prepared for this. "Don't you want to do everything you can to prepare yourselves to stop Voldemort and his Death Eaters?"

Everyone began grumbling. "I can't believe you played the Voldemort card," groaned Remus. "That was low."

"Harry, in your professional opinion, if we killed you for making us run like this, would Voldemort spare us and then perhaps give us our own little island to live out the rest of our lives in peace once he takes over?" asked Cati.

"What about the rest of the Wizarding World?" asked Ginny

"Harry's not making _them_ run," argued. Cati.

"I agree, let them fend for themselves," said Sirius.

"Every man for himself then, eh?" commented Remus. "Great bunch of Aurors we have here."

"So we'll see you here tomorrow at 8:00 again," said Harry as though he hadn't been interrupted. "And if you're not on time, you get an extra lap." He reached down and helped Ginny to her feet, and they started walking down to Hogsmeade to Apparate back to Godric's Hollow. Ron, Hermione, Sirius, and Lupin said their goodbyes and then followed.

Suddenly, Cadance groaned. "What?" asked Melinda, as Chris helped her to her feet.

"I've got guard duty tonight at Godric's Hollow starting at 2 AM," said Cadance. "I'll be up all night standing guard and _then_ I have to run."

* * *

Just before noon the next day, Charlie went into his and Cadance's bedroom to find Cadance asleep on the bed. She was had one shoe off, and appeared to have fallen asleep in the process of taking off the other shoe. Charlie chuckled silently to himself, and then sat down on the edge of the bed. "Cadance," he said softly. She stirred a little. He bent down and kissed her forehead and her eyes fluttered open.

"Wazzamatta?" she asked sleepily.

"Nothing," he said. "It's almost lunch time and I haven't seen you since last night. Where have you been all morning?"

"I'm sorry, dear," she said as Charlie laid down next to her. "I was on duty last night and then I had training this morning with Harry and the others and then I came back here to catch up on the sleep I missed last night."

"How was training?" asked Charlie.

"We had to run and _then_ Harry let Mad-Eye fire spells at us—while we were wand-less, mind you—and told us to _dodge them_ instead of blocking them," answered Cadance, cuddling up close to him. "And the worst part is we have to do it _again_ Wednesday evening."

Charlie chuckled. "So what do you want to do about lunch?" he asked.

"Mmmm, can we just stay here forever?" she asked closing her eyes.

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan," said Charlie. "We'll just lie here. Everyone else can deal with the Death Eaters and someone else can take over our classes. We'll hit a snag when it comes to meals and having to go to the bathroom and stuff like that, but I'm sure we'll get through it. Of course, that's assuming that Cati allows us to lay here forever." Cadance groaned. Cati, of course, probably wouldn't allow them to lie there for the next fifteen minutes, let alone the rest of forever. "Lunch then?"

Cadance sighed. "Lunch," she conceded. They got up and walked out of their Common Room and towards the Great Hall. Charlie put his arm around Cadance's waist as they walked. They entered the Great Hall, where Cati and Bill were already seated.

"I was beginning to wonder where you got to," said Cati.

Cadance mumbled something unintelligible. Just then, Jen came in, with Abigail (now 9-years-old) holding her hand and both Joseph and Fred (both four-and-a-half-years-old) hanging off of her back. "Jen's got the circus today," commented Cati as Jen made her way up to them.

"I need a favor," said Jen once she reached the Head Table.

"Well, hello to you, too!" said Bill.

"Hello," said Jen. "I need a favor."

"What is it?" asked Cadance.

"Ron, Hermione, and I all have to work this afternoon. So do Harry and Ginny so we can't leave the kids with them. And George is doing inventory in the shop and the _last_ time he watched them at the shop there were several small explosions. Usually Molly is willing to babysit, but she's visiting her aunt in London…"

"Jen, do you need a babysitter?" interrupted Cadance, seeing where the conversation was heading.

"Yes," said Jen

"Alright, I'll keep an eye on them," said Cadance. "Did they eat yet?"

"Not yet," answered Jen, releasing Abby's hand, and stooping down so Joseph and Fred could climb off of her back.

"Bye, Mommy," said Abby kissing her mother's cheek before running around to the other side of the Head Table and sitting down in the vacant chair next to Charlie. Fred kissed his mother's cheek as well before Jen left and he and Joseph climbed under the table, emerging on the other side between Cati and Cadance. They both scooted their chairs over a little and Cati conjured up two chairs in between them. They ate a quick lunch and then Cadance brought them with her to her classroom so she could work on the next week's lessons.

The back room of Cadance's classroom had once been her office, however when she had been promoted to Deputy Headmistress she had moved to McGonagall's old office which was located more conveniently for students who needed her in the center of the castle. Cadance now used the office attached to her classroom as a sort of storage room. Abby, Fred, and Joseph were playing together out in the classroom while Cadance was poking around in the back, looking for things for lessons.

"Aunt Cadance, could you come out here for a second?" called Abby's voice. Cadance poked her head out of the door.

"Anything wrong?" she asked.

"Yes," said Abby with a bit of a pout. "We're trying to play Hogwarts and Fred can't get his robes to billow like Professor Snape's."

Cadance quickly turned the laugh that was escaping her throat into a cough when she saw that Abby was incredibly serious. After she had regained her composure, she looked down at them from behind her half-moon spectacles, which she now had to wear increasingly more often, not just when she was reading. "You're playing _what_ exactly?" asked Cadance, checking to make sure she had heard right.

"Hogwarts," answered Abby. "And we're in Potions right now. Fred's being Professor Snape!"

"He is, is he?" asked Cadance.

Fred nodded then put on a scowl, in demonstration. "Fifty points from Gryffindor!" he exclaimed throwing his hands in the air.

"Oh, Freddy, Professor Snape would _never_ throw his hands in the air like that," corrected Cadance. "Perhaps you should be in a different class."

"Will you play then?" asked Abby. "You can teach us Defense Against the Dark Arts! Then we could be in _real_ school, not just _pretend_ school."

"Uhh, Abby, I don't know if your mom would appreciate that very much," answered Cadance truthfully. "How about if I let you play with the stuff in the back room?"

"Okay" exclaimed Abby, running past Cadance and into the back room with Joseph at her heels. Freddy followed taking large, slow strides, apparently still trying to make his robes billow. Cadance chuckled, picked him up, and carried him into the back room.

"What's all this stuff?" asked Joseph, standing on his tiptoes to look in a large box.

"All sorts of things," answered Cadance. She tipped the box over so Joseph could look inside. It appeared to be full of old clothes and strange-looking robes. "_These_ are disguises."

"Disguises?" asked Abby picking up a large hat and putting it on her head.

"Oh yes," answered Cadance. "That was my specialty when I was a rookie Auror."

"What's a specialty?" asked Joseph, crawling into the box to get to stuff in the back.

"Oh, it's sort of something I was really good at," answered Cadance. "I would put on these clothes to change my appearance and people wouldn't know who I was."

"Why would you want to do that?" asked Abby.

"Oh, there are many reasons for an Auror to wear a disguise," answered Cadance. "Especially if he or she has to go to the same place several times to get information or anything like that. Also, disguises give you the element of surprise."

"Do you wear them anymore?" asked Fred.

Cadance grinned. "As tempting as it is to fool the students, no," she answered. "No, I don't have much use for disguises anymore. I'm certainly not trying to disguise myself from my students, and disguises are not all that helpful when Death Eaters are shooting spells at you left and right."

"Did Aunt Cati do it, too?" asked Abby. Cadance nodded.

"Uncle Remus says you and Aunt Cati used to get into a lot of trouble," said Freddy.

Cadance cocked an eyebrow at him. "What exactly has Remus told you?" she asked.

"He said that you used to be real bad at school, and that's why Professor McGonagall uses your middle names, like when Mommy uses my middle name when I am bad," answered Joseph.

"And he said you used to be real bad at work, and the Aurors would have fired you except that you were worth more than the trouble you caused," piped up Abby.

"I'm going to have to have a little talk with Remus then," said Cadance. "He was no angel in school, you know."

"He wasn't?" asked Fred.

"Oh no," answered Cadance. "He and your Uncle Sirius and your Uncle Harry's dad used to sneak out of bed at night and terrorize the castle." Abby, Fred, and Joseph all gasped.

"Uncle Sirius, too?" asked Abby incredulously.

"Oh yes," said Cadance with a grin. "Especially Uncle Sirius."

"But they all say you and Aunt Cati were bad," said Fred.

"Who does?" asked Cadance.

"_Everyone_," answered Fred. "My mommy and daddy and Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny and Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione and Aunt Arabella and Uncle Sirius and Aunt Wendy and Uncle Remus and Aunt Kala and Uncle Bill and Uncle Charlie and…"

"What?" exclaimed Cadance. "When do you all talk about me and Cati?"

"Last week when everyone was at my house except you and Aunt Cati were busy supervising the Aurors at Hogwarts!" answered Abby.

Cadance tried to think back to last week. She and Cati _had_ been taking their shift standing guard at Hogwarts one night, and everyone had gone to Godric's Hollow for a late dinner, which she and Cati had to miss. "How did that conversation come up?" asked Cadance.

"They were talking about how James got detention last week for putting a Filibuster firework in someone's cauldron and I asked mommy if _she_ ever did anything like that at school," answered Abby.

"And she said no, did she?" asked Cadance. Abby nodded. Cadance sighed. She should have seen that coming. Of course she and Cati, as the only ones not there to defend themselves, would be the one who would have the beans spilled on them.

"Well, I think it's about time you all learned the truth," answered Cadance. "Yes, I admit it. Cati and I were troublemakers. However, we were not the only ones. Your parents did _plenty_ themselves."

"My mommy?" asked Joseph.

"Oh yes," said Cadance grinning evilly. "In her first year, Hermione actually lit Professor Snape _on fire_. In her second year, she _stole_ Potions ingredients from his private stores and then _illegally brewed_ a potion in the girls bathroom!"

"She did?" asked Joseph, with wide eyes.

"And your daddy and Uncle Harry helped!" said Cadance.

"My daddy was in the _girls bathroom_!" exclaimed Joseph.

Cadance nodded. "_And_ they all helped Hagrid hide a _dragon_ and then they helped him get rid of it. And don't even get me started on Uncle George…"

* * *

Just after dinner that evening, Jen came to pick the children back up. Cadance, who hadn't gotten much work done with Abby, Fred, and Joseph there, went back to her classroom. She started cleaning up the storage room, which she and the kids had made a royal mess of. She was just putting a bunch of bouncy balls into a cauldron and stashing it on a shelf with a basket full of toy people and a stuffed dragon when she heard the door to her classroom open and the familiar bouncing footsteps of Cati echoing inside.

"Cate?" she called, as she started to reorganize the sloppily stashed potion ingredients on another shelf.

Cati came walking into the back room. "What are you doing?" she asked leaning on the doorframe casually.

"Cleaning up," said Cadance. "I let the kids play in here today."

"You let the kids play with shrunken heads?" asked Cati gesturing lazily to the box full of them lying open on the floor.

"Yes. Do you think Jen will have a problem with that?" asked Cadance picking it up and sticking it on a shelf next to a lava lamp. Suddenly, they both heard the classroom door open rather noisily and then slam shut again.

"CADANCE!" exclaimed Jen's voice really loudly.

"I'd say so," said Cati as she and Cadance poked their heads into the classroom to see what was going on. Jen was standing there, fuming, with Hermione and Ginny on either side.

Jen narrowed her eyes at Cadance. "_You_," she said through gritted teeth.

"Alright, I'm _sorry_. The next time I'll put the shrunken heads on a higher shelf!"

"Shrunken heads?" asked Ginny, confused.

"You told our children about EVERY bad thing we EVER did at school!" exclaimed Jen furiously.

Cadance narrowed her eyes and stood in a way that mirrored her sister. "_You_ told your children about every bad thing me and Cati did _in_ school AND out!" exclaimed Cadance.

"They did?" asked Cati.

"Yes!" exclaimed Cadance.

"Remus started it, Cadance!" argued Jen.

"And now we're even!"

"Do you know what my son asked me today?" asked Jen in a threatening tone. "He asked me what potions ingredients to mix together to make the dungeons blow up! You told him I blew up the dungeons!"

"You _did _blow up the dungeons!" asserted Cadance.

"But did you have to tell my 4-and-a-half year old son that!" asked Jen exasperatedly.

"Oh, relax, it's not like I told him he was an accident," said Cadance. Jen took a step forward, but Ginny grabbed her arm to pull her back.

"Joseph asked _me_ if he's allowed to light Ron on fire the next time he tells him he doesn't get any desert," said Hermione, not quite as angrily as Jen. "And _then_ he asked me if Professor Snape _sneers_ so much because _I_ lit him on fire!"

"Well, it wasn't exactly a cause for him to _stop_ sneering…"

"Cadance, this is very serious!" admonished Ginny.

"And what are you doing here, Ginny?" said Cadance. "It's not like I told _James_ anything."

"Cadance Rose DiGen…" began Jen before Cadance cut her off, by whipping her wand out so quickly nobody saw it until it was pointed directly at Jen.

"Don't do dare finish that middle name, Jen," she said, leering at her. "You know I hate it."

Just then, the door opened again. Harry was standing there, panting. "What the hell's the wrong with you?" asked Cadance pocketing her wand.

"Ran," he panted, clutching his side. "Ran fast."

"Yeah, it sucks to have to run, doesn't it? Maybe you'll reconsider making us run on Wednesday now, won't you?" asked Cadance.

"Harry, I already told you; you can't stop me from kicking Cadance's ass, so back off," said Jen angrily, looking at Harry.

"No… that's…. not it," he said, still panting.

"Well, what is it then?" asked Jen.

He paused for a second and once his breath caught up with him, he looked at all of them. "I know what Voldemort's been up to."

"What?" asked Ginny, nervousness edging into her voice.

"He's launched an assault on Azkaban. That's why they've been lying low. They've been lying in wait for this," said Harry. Cati, Ginny, Hermione, and Jen were stunned into silence.

"We've got to get there," said Cadance, snapping her fingers. A traveling cloak appeared in her hands and she swung it on in one quick motion as she walked towards the door. "Come on, we've got to hurry. We've got to alert the Order."

"It's too late," said Harry. Cadance stopped. "It's already over. It was over so fast the Ministry had no idea it even happened until it was over."

"How many of ours are dead?" asked Cati.

"Every single Auror in there," said Harry. "All fifty of them. Every cell was opened. Hundreds of Death Eaters have poured out and rejoined Voldemort. And that's not all. The Dementors have returned to the island. We no longer have control of the jail or its enchantments. It seems Voldemort and Slytherin have taken it as their new lair. They're using our own magic against us."


	22. In Which They Are All Sick of Running

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as belonging to someone else.**

**A/N: Alright, come on people, this is getting ridiculous. A bunch of hits, but zero reviews! If you review, I'll give you all a slice of pizza in the next chapter.**

After Harry's announcement, Cadance, Cati, Hermione, Jen, and Ginny all accompanied him to the Ministry, where they met the rest of the Order of the Phoenix. Attempts to reach Azkaban to overtake the Death Eaters were made in vain. It seemed as if Voldemort had put his own enchantments over the island once taking over.

"Well, we've lost fifty Aurors. Upwards of 150 Death Eaters have broken out and are ready to wreak havoc. And Voldemort has commandeered our prison," said Harry heavily.

"I believe that 'commandeered' only applies to ships," pointed out Cati. Harry shot her a look. "But, yes, I suppose it can apply to prisons, too."

"How could this possibly have happened?" wondered Arabella aloud.

"I don't know, I've never broken out of Azkaban, let alone _into_ it," said Harry.

"It's not that hard," said Cati. "Sirius and I broke _in_ twice to get Cadance out. And Sirius broke _out_ twice." Harry shot her another look. "But that's neither here nor there."

"You're two-for-two with ill-timed comments tonight, Cati," said Sirius.

"We'd better get back to the school," said McGonagall.

"Minerva's right. We shouldn't leave it for too long. Not with more Death Eaters on the loose," said Cadance. She looked around at all of them. "Watch your backs, won't you?"

----------------------------------------------------

The recent loss of Azkaban made Harry more and more determined to whip his best Aurors into shape. On Wednesday evening, the Aurors of the Order of the Phoenix met again to train with Harry. However, in their third lap around the castle, they noticed that they were being watched.

"Hey! Is that Bill and Charlie?" asked Ginny, peering towards the front doors, as they rounded the castle. Indeed it was. Charlie and Bill were relaxing in lawn chairs holding drinks and waving at them. They passed them as they started their fourth lap.

"Looking good! Keep your knees up!" exclaimed Bill. Cati made a rude hand gesture at her husband.

As they were finishing their sixth and final lap, Cati pulled out her wand. Cadance snatched it out of her hands as they slowed to a stop. "You're not cursing them," she said pointedly.

"I wasn't going to curse them, I was going to miss on purpose!" exclaimed Cati.

Everyone stopped in front of the doors, panting. "Alright, good run," said Harry. "But we're going to do one more lap at a sprint as soon as we're done working on other things."

Cadance handed Cati her wand back and pointed at Harry. "You can curse _him_," she said, panting.

"The Ministry will ask questions," said Cati. "Not worth it."

"Next, we're going to work on reflexes some more," said Harry.

"Who's firing spells at us this time?" asked Jen. "Alastor's not here."

"We're not going to work with spells," said Harry, looking to the front stoop. They all followed his gaze. They noticed a wooden crate for the first time.

"Are those the Quidditch balls?" asked Cadance with an eyebrow cocked.

"Not the school's set," said Harry. "That's just a crate full of Bludgers."

"What!" exclaimed several people at once.

"Yes, well, if you can dodge a Bludger you can dodge a spell. They fly more erratically than spells do anyway," said Harry walking over to the crate. "I've got these ones charmed so that they won't fly as high as regular Bludgers, since we won't be on broomsticks…"

"ARE YOU INSANE!" exclaimed Jen. "You're going to set the Bludgers on us?"

"Are you ready?" asked Harry, putting his hand on the lid.

"Harry…"

"No…"

"Harry James, don't you dare…"

"No, no, no…"

"Holy shit…"

"Go!" exclaimed Harry pulling the lid off and diving out of the way. Immediately, four Bludgers rose into the air and started flying around everyone's heads. Several people screamed as everyone ran out of the way. Charlie and Bill, from off to the side, laughed as they watched.

"So, you know how McGonagall and Moody and Arabella are all too old for this?" asked Sirius. He dropped to the ground as a Bludger whizzed over his head. "Well, I'm nearly sixty. Can I be too old for this too?"

"Well, you could, except that you're not a muggle. Sixty's old for a muggle, not for wizards," said Harry. "When your hair starts to go grey, then you can be too old for this." He sidestepped a Bludger.

"Don't worry, Sirius," said Ron. "Once you get hit by a Bludger and you need your hip replaced, I bet Harry won't make you run."

"Harry!" exclaimed Jen as she was chased by a Bludger. As she ran past Remus, he pulled her to the ground. "Harry, this is DANGEROUS!"

"It's not like Death Eater battles _aren't_ dangerous!" argued Harry.

"Actually, this is a really good strategy," said Remus. "If we get killed in training, we can avoid the danger of Death Eater battles all together! And I bet it would _really_ throw the Death Eaters for a loop."

"Alright, that's it," said Cadance snapping her fingers. A Beater's bat appeared in her hands. She turned around and swung with all her might. The bat made contact with the Bludger and it narrowly missed Harry's head.

"Whoa," said Melinda, in awe.

"Brilliant idea," said Cati, nodding her head in approval. She snapped her fingers and a bat appeared in her hands, too.

"UH OH! THEY'VE BOTH GOT BATS! BETTER RUN FOR IT!" exclaimed Bill. He and Charlie hopped out of their chairs and scrambled up the front stairs. They pulled open the front doors and fell inside, slamming the doors shut behind them. Just as the doors shut, a Bludger hit them.

"Alright, alright," said Harry. "Let's just gather up the Bludgers and then we'll run our lap and call it a night." Gathering up the Bludgers was easier said than done. It took about 20 minutes, and in the end Cadance and Cati just ended up blowing two of them up. They ran their last lap, grudgingly, and then everyone went their separate ways. Unfortunately, before they could leave, Harry told them their next training session would be Saturday morning.

But Cadance and Cati had a plan. On Friday night, Cati, Harry, and Wendy were the three Order members who had the first round of guard duty in Godric's Hollow. Jen and George's front porch offered the best view of the small neighborhood. When on duty, the Order Members spent most of the time on the porch. Then they would get up and take a look around every hour or so, meeting back up on the porch when they were done.

At 11 o'clock, Cati, Wendy, and Harry all went off in separate directions for rounds. Cati started to make a circle around Harry's house. After she checked that the yard was clear, she went into the house through the back door. Ginny was sitting in the kitchen in her bathrobe flipping through a magazine.

"Don't mind me," said Cati as she sprinted into the hallway and up the stairs. Ginny heard some strange noises coming from upstairs, and then the sound of Cati running down the stairs. When Cati sprinted back through the kitchen, she was holding Harry's running shoes. "Let's see him run now!" she exclaimed, holding the shoes up in triumph and running out the door. Ginny stared after her confusedly. Suddenly, she poked her head back in the door and said, "Shhhhhhh. Don't tell Harry!"

At around 2:00 that morning, when Cadance, Jen, and Moody relieved them, Cati winked at Cadance, but nobody else noticed. Later that morning, Cadance and Cati had smug looks on their faces as they walked to the Entrance Hall and out the front doors. Once they got outside, however, their faces fell. Harry was standing there, talking to Ron.

"It's a good thing I knew where my extra pair of sneakers was," he was saying. "I just can't imagine where the pair I usually wear got to!" He threw Cadance and Cati a look and winked at them.

But Cadance and Cati were not daunted by their first failed attempt. Being that they were very thorough planners, they had a Plan B (and a Plan C and a Plan D and in case they were really desperate they had a Plan E as well). As soon as they were done training that day, Cadance and Cati ran inside to shower and then locked themselves in Cati's classroom to work out the details of Plan B. Charlie and Bill knew better than to question them

"Well, Operation Sneaker Snatch was a complete failure," said Cati dully.

"That's not true," said Cadance. "You _did_ manage to snatch the sneakers."

"Yes, but it didn't get us out of running," pointed out Cati.

"That's alright, because Operation Cock-A-Doodle-Doo will be more successful," said Cadance.

"But I don't know how we're going to pull it off," said Cati. "We can't do it the same as we did last night because Harry's not on duty so he'll be in the house."

"That's why we're calling in reinforcements," responded Cadance. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. "Ah, there he is now." She flicked her wand casually at the door and it opened and Sirius walked in. He shut the door behind him.

"You wanted to see me?" he asked, with a bit of a confused look on his face.

"Yes," said Cadance. "What would you be prepared to do so that we don't have to run anymore?"

Sirius looked at her for a second, as if considering what she had just said, then he broke out into a broad grin. "What did you have in mind?"

Later that evening, Harry and Ginny were lying in bed. Harry was doing the crossword puzzle and Ginny was reading a book. The silence was interrupted by a sudden pounding on the front door. "I'll get it," said Harry. He put his crossword puzzle aside and got out of bed. He walked out of the room and down the stairs.

The minute he was out of the room, the air vent in the ceiling directly over the bedside table next to Harry's side of the bed slid silently out of place. Ginny glanced up in time to see something that put her at a complete loss for words.

Cati was in a harness and was being lowered, horizontally, down out of the air ducts. Her arms were out to the side. She snatched the alarm clock off of Harry's bedside table and then reached up and gave her rope two sharp tugs. She immediately started to be raised back up. As she ascended back to the air duct, she spun around so that she was facing Ginny, who gaped at her. Cati rose her finger to her lips and winked at her before disappearing back up into the ceiling. The vent slid into place just a split second before Harry walked back into the room.

"What's wrong?" he asked Ginny, seeing her confused stare. Ginny shook her head and went back to her book.

The next morning, Cadance and Cati walked down to the front lawn shortly before 8:00, confident that they wouldn't have to do any sort of training; they were certain Harry wouldn't be there. Once again, they were sadly mistaken. As they opened the door and stepped outside, they were once again surprised to see Harry standing there with everyone else.

"Oh, good, now everyone's here," he said. "Look, I'm not going to mention any names, but I'm fairly sure that I _know_ who stole my alarm clock last night, although Ginny isn't saying anything. Look, it's _one_ thing to steal my sneakers… which I'm still waiting for them to be returned, by the way… but don't you think that sending Sirius to my house to distract me with questions about Quidditch at 10 o'clock at night is going just a bit too far? Any more ill-conceived plans to get out of training will not be well-received. This means you, Cadance and Cati."

Cadance and Cati remained grouchy for the rest of the day.

On Monday, after classes ended, Cadance and Cati went back to their Common Room. Charlie was already there. "Look, we're going to have to get very serious now," said Cati as they walked in through their portrait hole. "No more half-assing it."

"What are you talking about?" asked Charlie, looking over at them from the couch.

"Charlie, ask us no questions and we'll tell you no lies," said Cadance.

"Please tell me you're not trying to get out of training again," said Charlie. "This is getting out of hand."

"You can't say that, Charlie, you don't understand! You don't have to do it!" exclaimed Cadance.

"Cadance…" began Charlie.

"No, Charlie! Hey, you knew I was crazy when you married me and you promised to love me anyway, so now you have to live with me!" argued Cadance. "And I don't want to run anymore!"

"You tell him," said Cati. "Come on, Cadance, we've got planning to do. See you later, Charlie." They went into Cati and Bill's bedroom and shut the door. Charlie sighed and then went back to his newspaper.

The next day, Cadance's last class was her 6th Year Gryffindors and Slytherins. She assigned them homework at the end of the class and then dismissed them. "James, can I see you for a second?" she asked as he was leaving with the rest of the class.

"Sure," he said. He hung back, and when everyone else had gone, Cadance shut the door.

"I need to have a little chat with you," she said.

"Is this an Aunt Cadance chat or a Professor Weasley chat?" James asked. Cadance had made it clear with her nieces and nephews that when they were at Hogwarts and they needed to talk to her about class to address her as Professor Weasley, but if they needed to talk about anything else and needed her to be their Aunt and not their Professor to address her as Aunt Cadance, and she would cease being their Professor for a while.

"Well, neither really," said Cadance. "Ordinarily, as neither your Aunt nor your teacher would I do what I am about to do, but desperate times call for desperate measures."

"What?" asked James confusedly.

"I'm about to kidnap you," she said rather bluntly, as she pulled out her wand.

James plunged his hand into his robes, digging for his wand, but not fast enough. Cadance flicked her wand and he fell backwards into a chair, and ropes appeared out of nowhere and tied him to it. "Aunt Cadance!" he exclaimed. "You…. You… Why... Death Eaters!"

"Death Eaters?" asked Cadance. "No! No! We just need you as leverage!" She grabbed the back of the chair and pulled it into the back room.

"Aunt Cadance, what the hell are you talking about?" asked James, struggling against his ropes.

"I'll let you out as soon as your dad stops making us train. I'm really really sorry about this," said Cadance. She pulled a bandana off of one of the shelves.

"I have Quidditch practice tonight!" exclaimed James. "The final is on Saturday!"

"I'm sorry," said Cadance, as she used the bandana to gag him. She closed and locked the storage room door and then left her classroom, wondering if Cati had completed her part of the plan.

She had. Harry was sitting at his desk in the Auroring Department, with the door to his office open, as it usually was. Suddenly he felt something whizzing past his head. He turned around and saw an arrow stuck in the wall behind him, with a scroll wrapped around it. Harry slid the scroll off of the arrow and read it, his eyes narrowing as he went along. People outside were gathering around his door, whispering to each other, wondering why exactly an arrow had just flown through the department. Harry crumpled the paper up in his hands. "This time, they've gone _too far_."

Before dinner, Cadance, Cati, and Charlie were all sitting in Cadance's classroom. Bill, who had to work a bit later, usually met them directly at dinner. The door opened and Harry walked very calmly in.

"Hey, Harry," said Charlie. "What's up?"

Harry strode past them and opened the door to the back room. James was still tied to the chair. Harry untied him and removed his gag and they walked out into the classroom. Charlie looked from Harry and James to Cadance and Cati, who were trying to look innocent.

"Honestly! _The pair of you_," said Harry shaking his head. He ushered James ahead of him as they exited the classroom. Before shutting the door, he turned around just long enough to roll his eyes towards the ceiling while shaking his head and then say, "I'll see you both tomorrow evening. Training session _still on_!"

"Well," said Charlie as Harry slammed the door. "What do the two of you have to say for yourselves?"

Cadance and Cati paused and looked at each other then Cati said, "We haven't been thinking big enough."

"I like where your head's at," said Cadance pointing at her and nodding her head appreciatively.

"No no no no no no no no," said Charlie standing up and facing the two of them. "No more. I'm putting my foot down."

Cadance cocked her eyebrow at him in confusion. "Putting your foot down on _what_, dear?" she asked.

"On whatever drastic and stupid thing you're going to do," said Charlie. "Someone has to be the adult here and it looks like neither of you are going to do it."

Cadance and Cati exchanged a look and then Cadance turned back to Charlie. "I DON'T WANT TO RUN ANYMORE!" she exclaimed angrily, before storming out of the classroom. Cati nodded before bouncing out after her. Charlie heaved a sigh before following.

------------------------------------------------------------

On the morning of the Quidditch Final, Harry walked down one of the corridors at Hogwarts. He had gotten a letter by Owl Post earlier saying that McGonagall wanted to talk to him before the match. He assumed it had to do with security. Harry had given the Aurors of the Order of the Phoenix the day off so that they could all watch the match. He also didn't make them train that morning.

However, Harry had a strange feeling. He wasn't sure if it was because he was just excited and nervous about getting to watch the Quidditch Match—almost as if he was playing Seeker for Gryffindor again—or if it was something else. Yet he could feel a presence as he walked down the hallway. He would turn around every little once and a while, but nobody was following him, so he shrugged off the notion.

But Harry didn't notice that several figures were creeping down the hallway after him, keeping hidden. He also didn't notice the Suit of Armor that happened to be there every time he turned around…

That is, of course, until suddenly he heard a voice scream "NOW!" and felt himself being tackled to the floor. As he laid on the floor, he could see several feet walking toward him and could hear more from behind him. He would have struggled harder against his captors, except that he had recognized the voice that had screamed before he had been tackled.

Harry sighed. "Cadance, this really is getting out of hand," he said heavily. He managed to twist himself so he could look up at who all was there. It was Cati, who had tackled him to the floor. Her face was painted with what looked like tribal paint. Remus was helping her to drag Harry to his feet and hold him still. Sirius and Cadance were on his left. Sirius was dressed up like a Suit of Armor. Cadance face was painted as well. Jen was on his right. Remus and looked remarkably like the statue he had seen a few corridors back, and Jen was wearing robes that looked like they would blend into the wall.

"Alright, Cadance, what do you want?" asked Harry with a sigh.

Cadance and Cati exchanged a look, clearly surprised that they didn't have to put up with a struggle. Then Cadance turned back to Harry. "I DON'T WANT TO RUN ANYMORE!"

"Well, that's just too bad," said Harry.

"To the Quidditch Pitch!" exclaimed Cadance and Cati punching the air.

Half an hour later, Professor McGonagall burst angrily into Cadance's office, where Cadance, Cati, Remus, Sirius, and Jen were all sitting, looking smug, and drinking butterbeer. "The Aurors have just been to see me," she said. "They're cutting Harry down… FROM THE QUIDDITCH POST!"

"That's unfortunate," said Cadance.

"Oh, save it, Cadance, we know it was you," said McGonagall.

"You don't understand!" exclaimed Cadance. "You don't have to run! I DON'T WANT TO RUN ANYMORE!"

"Get down to the Quidditch Pitch," deadpanned McGonagall.

"Right-o," said Cadance.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Professor McGonagall berating them the entire way to the Quidditch Pitch, though more of a beratement than any of them had ever received from her in their entire lives, was nothing compared to the daggers James was glaring at them, as they stepped onto the field. The entire Slytherin and Gryffindor Quidditch Teams were on the field, though standing far apart from each other, waiting to be allowed to play. Harry and about six other Aurors were there as well, along with Bill and Charlie and Ginny. Cadance sighed and said, "Harry, we're sorry we tied you to the Quidditch Post, and I'm going to try to learn to work things out verbally before resorting to kidnapping." She sounded very well-rehearsed.

"Is this all over now?" asked Harry.

"Yes, yes, yes," said Cadance. "Minerva lectured us the _entire_ way down here…"

"Oh, is that it!" exclaimed James furiously. They all gaped at him, surprised by his sudden outburst. Molly, who was a Chaser on the team, looked nearly as indignant as him. "Look, I know this Quidditch Match isn't as important to you, but the Gryffindor Team is _really good_ now. It's not like when you all were in school…"

"Excuse me?" interrupted Cadance.

"Your silly antics almost caused the match to be _canceled!_" continued James.

"No, no, back up a second," said Cadance.

"To which part! How about the part where your random acts of insanity was ruining our Quidditch?" exclaimed James.

"Watch your tone, James," said Harry warningly. "They may have locked you in a closet and strung me up a Quidditch Post, but they're still family and you should show them some respect. Besides, you're stuck with them no matter what happens."

"No, James, go on," said McGonagall. "It's about time someone besides _me_ took that tone of voice with them!"

"Professor McGonagall, _really_," said Harry.

"What did you mean by '_it's not like when you all were in school_'!" exclaimed Cadance at James.

"Well, the teams were a bit _washy_ back then!" exclaimed James. "Not like they are now! I mean, come on!" He gestured at one of his teammates and continued, "Billy's dad was on the team years ago and he said you guys stunk!"

"Excuse me?" asked Harry and Cadance and Cati at the same time.

"Hey, I was the youngest Seeker in a Century!" cried Harry defensively.

"_Exactly_. They had to dip into the first-years because they were so bad!" exclaimed James. Harry's jaw dropped. "And before that, they were the laughing stock of the school!"

"Hey!" exclaimed Cadance, Cati, and Charlie who had all been on the Quidditch Team a few years before Harry.

"I think I'm going to throw up," said Cati earnestly. "Unbelievable. _Un_believable."

"So, Billy's dad said we sucked, huh?" asked Harry. "What does _Jack's_ mom dad say?" He gestured to another boy on the team: Jack Wood, the son of Oliver Wood and Katie Bell-Wood.

"You know how my dad goes on about Quidditch," said Jack, rolling his eyes. "Honestly, I zone out half the time."

"Unbelievable," repeated Cati, shaking her head.

"You know, you'll _never_ know where you're going, if you don't know where you come from," said Cadance sadly. "And that doesn't just apply to Quidditch. You should listen when older people are talking to you."

"Did my wife just say that?" asked Charlie, cocking an eyebrow. He put a hand on her forehead as if feeling to see if she had a fever. "That was uncharacteristically wise."

"Alright, it's time to start this game," said McGonagall. "Cadance, Cati, Jen, Sirius, and Remus, I want all of you to sit with me so I can keep an eye on you. I never thought I'd live to see the day that I would have to babysit _five adults_…"

"Oh, stuff it, Minerva, you've been babysitting us for years," said Cadance, stalking off the field and into the stands before McGonagall could tell her off again. As soon as they were off the field, the players rose up into the air and the game began. Harry, Bill, Charlie, and Ginny sat with them, as the six other Aurors maintained posts around the outside of the Pitch. Harry's anger at being tied to the Quidditch Post had vanished at this new attack upon his Quidditch skills by his own offspring. Cadance, Cati, and Charlie kept talking in hushed tones and kept throwing looks at McGonagall, lest she berate them for acting sneaky. McGonagall, however, had her hands full with the commentator…

"Slytherin Chasers heading towards the goal post… BLOCKED by Gryffindor Keeper Jack Wood. Amazing block, really. Slytherin is going to be no match for…"

"JORDAN!" barked McGonagall. "Stick to the commentary!"

"I am!" argued Jordan back.

"_Commentary_, Jordan! Not _personal opinion_!"

Harry turned his head to look at the commentator. "Hey, Cadance, is that Lee Jordan's son?" he asked.

"How could you tell?" asked Cadance.

"Gut feeling."

"So, Gryffindor has the Quaffle and Molly Weasley takes the shot… it's good! Oh, and Slytherin takes a time out," continued the commentary.

"Hey, Harry, I've got an idea," said Cadance. She leaned over Bill and Cati and whispered something in Harry's ear.

Harry looked at her for a second, as if contemplating what she had said to him. "Interesting," he said, curiously. "Very interesting."

"What do you think?" asked Cadance.

"I give you my blessing," said Harry nodding at her. "If you promise not to ever tie me to the Quidditch post again… and show up to training tomorrow with a smile on your face."

Cadance and Cati put their heads together and whispered for a few seconds before saying, "Deal."

"What is it, dear?" asked Ginny quietly.

"You'll see in a second," said Harry. Sure enough, Cadance was leaning over Charlie and McGonagall and tugging the magical megaphone out of young Lance Jordan's hands.

"Hey!" he exclaimed.

"Guess what, folks!" exclaimed Cadance into it, her voice becoming magnified throughout the stadium. "The winner of this game, in addition to winning the Quidditch Cup and having reason to throw an overly-loud, riotous party in the common room after the match, will win an additional honor. The winner of this game will also get to challenge the _teachers_ to a Staff vs. Students Quidditch Match on the Saturday after Finals are over. That's right! You'll get to see your teachers take on your Quidditch Champions!"

"Excuse me! I did not authorize this!" exclaimed McGonagall shrilly, as chatter broke out in the stands.

Cadance pulled the megaphone away from her mouth and looked at McGonagall. She said in a low voice, "Keep in mind, Minerva, that Cati and I are the only ones who know it was really _you_ who let the Niffler into Snape's office after Slytherin beat us during our 7th Year of Hogwarts, and while Cati and I kept our mouths shut and took the detention _and_ the credit for it back then, we could still let something slip now."

McGonagall narrowed her eyes at Cadance. "Blast," she hissed and settled back into her seat, with her arms folded angrily across her chest.

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A/N: The end! I'll have the next one up quicker than I had this one. Remember: **If you review, I'll give you pizza in the next chapter!**


	23. Staff vs Students Quidditch Match

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's.**

**A/N: You know, it's a really good thing that Fanfiction put up the "hits" feature, so I can see that people actually _are_ reading my story, because the reviews don't show it. Thank you, Whitelighter Enchantress for reviewing to every chapter. And thanks to the 130 other people (as of this morning) who have read the chapter and didn't review. PLEASE REVIEW!  
P.S. I put up a new story called "A Rather Elaborate Hoax". One shot. Kind of funny.**

* * *

"Did you see the papers this morning?" asked Harry as the Aurors of the Order of the Phoenix met on the front stairs of Hogwarts on Sunday morning for training. He was holding a copy of _The Daily Prophet_ in his hands. 

"I swear, it wasn't me who fed them the rumor about you wearing bunny pajamas…" began Cadance before Harry held the newspaper up to silence her. The front page had a picture of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team on the front, hugging in celebration of their win the previous day. In big block letters across the top, the title read, "_Gryffindor Quidditch Team Wins; Hogwarts Staff Challenges."_

"Oh, right," said Cadance nodding.

"Nothing about bunnies," said Harry, cocking an eyebrow at her in confusion.

"Yeah, just don't read page three," said Cadance. Harry immediately ripped the paper open to page three. His eyes narrowed at Cadance.

"_You_ get an extra lap," he said.

"So," said Jen as they started their jog around the castle. "You _really_ intend to go on with this?"

"Well, Minerva said that I have to run and do everything Harry says during training without complaining or plotting anything anymore or else she's going to…" began Cadance before she was cut off again.

"I meant the Quidditch Match," said Jen.

"Oh yeah!" exclaimed Cadance excitedly.

"Yeah, we're pumped," added Cati perkily.

"Don't you think someone is going to get hurt?" asked Hermione.

"Probably!" exclaimed Cadance and Cati together.

"You haven't played Quidditch in years," said Jen, with an air of someone reasoning with a younger child.

"Well, it's not like we forgot _how_," said Cati, rolling her eyes.

"Who's going to play on the Staff team?" asked Ron curiously.

"Well, Charlie's going to be the Seeker," said Cadance. "Madame Hooch is going to be the Keeper. And then Sinistra, McGonagall, and Snape will be Chasers."

"That doesn't sound like something that McGonagall and Snape would agree to," said Ginny. "Are they _aware_?"

"Nope!" exclaimed Cati excitedly. "But they'll do it."

"So that leaves you two as Beaters," said Ron.

"Naturally," said Cadance with a smirk.

"I don't know how I feel about you hitting Bludgers at my daughter and nephew," said Hermione.

"I'm feeling pretty good about it," answered Cati.

"Okay, but none of you have played Quidditch since you were in school," said Jen, taking the reasoning tone again.

"That's not true! Cati and I played in the old annual inter-departmental Quidditch Game one summer when we were young, innocent Aurors!" exclaimed Cadance.

"You were never young _innocent_ Aurors," said Sirius.

"You wouldn't know; you were locked up in Azkaban! Say, how is Peter Pettigrew lately?" said Cadance pointedly.

"Well-played, Cadance Weasley. Well-played," said Sirius, nodding approvingly.

"Look, we're just trying to teach them a lesson. Harry agrees!" continued Cadance.

"Yes, oddly enough, even after being tied to a Quidditch Post, I'm on board with what Cadance has in mind," said Harry.

"I just want to show them that we all still have a few tricks up our sleeves," said Cadance. "And while we old dogs might not know _new_ tricks, the old ones are often just as good."

"It sounds to me as if these 'tricks' don't just refer to Quidditch," said Jen.

Cadance paused. "Our children will never get where they're going if they don't know where they're coming from," she said.

"Nope, it's definitely _not_ about Quidditch," said Ron. "Good call, Jen."

"This isn't going to be one of those teaching-life-lessons-through-games things, is it?" asked Sirius. "Because remember the last time you did that? Like, 20 years ago? When you assigned the students roles and then made them try to figure out who the fake Death Eaters were and it turned out to be the teachers? It didn't work."

"Well, at the very least, we'll have some fun," said Cati. "I mean, _come on_! Who _doesn't_ want to see my uncle Severus on a broom!"

"I _don't_ want to see my kid hit with a Bludger that was aimed at her by one of her own Aunts!" exclaimed Hermione.

"Lighten up, Hermione," said Ron, rolling his eyes. "It's just a game."

"I'll remind you of that the next time _you're_ upset because the Chudley Cannons lost!" agued Hermione.

"Hermione, you're really smart and everything, but you just don't get Quidditch," said Ron, shaking his head.

* * *

"I can't believe you've talked me into this," said McGonagall as she sat with her arms folded across her chest at the table in the staff room, where the Staff Quidditch team was having a meeting. 

"I'm more surprised that they talked _Severus_ into this," said Professor Sinistra, jerking her thumb at Snape. He sneered at her.

"Yes, well, Cati and I have secured leverage that will ensure their full cooperation," said Cadance.

"You know, Cadance, every little once in a while you break out big words that makes you sound an awful lot like your uncle and it really makes me think you've matured…" began Madame Hooch.

"Alright, now, let's talk about how much fun we're going to have when we're beating up on the students!" exclaimed Cadance.

"And then, you say stuff like that," finished Hooch.

"Wait, wait, wait," said McGonagall. "I know what you have on _me_, but what do you have on Severus?"

"Pictures of him being nice to kittens," said Cati casually.

Sinistra, Hooch, Charlie, and McGonagall all turned and stared at Snape, who looked at Cati and said, very slowly, "You're on my list."

"Oh, I saw you with the kittens; I know you're a softy," said Cati dismissively. "Now, who wants to go spy on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team! They're down at the Quidditch Pitch having practice right now!"

"Spy on them?" asked Cadance. "Why bother? We know their tactics; we've been watching them for years! Let's think up a team name!"

"Don't you think that's a little…" began McGonagall before Cati cut her off.

"Oh! Let's be the Fighting Platypie!" she exclaimed.

"The _what_?" asked Hooch.

"Platypie! It's the plural form of the world platypus!" exclaimed Cati.

"No, it's not!" exclaimed Charlie, looking at her like she was crazy.

"Then what is!" exclaimed Cati.

They all just stared at her for a second, then Sinistra was like, "Oh! I've got one! Let's be _The Shooting Stars_!"

"How about _The Flying Dragons_?" suggested Charlie.

"The Fuzzy Caterpillars!" exclaimed Cati.

"Aww, you really _do_ have a light and fluffy side, don't you?" asked Cadance.

"No! I've got it!" exclaimed Cati. "The Killer Hippogriffs!"

"Alright, I've got an idea," said Cadance. "Everyone write a suggestion down on a piece of paper and we'll draw from a hat, and whatever we pick out is the one we _have_ to use. Deal?"

Cati grabbed some parchment and ripped it into smaller pieces and passed them around. Everyone took a piece; Snape rather reluctantly. There was no sound except the scratching of quills for about a minute and then they all tossed their suggestions into McGonagall's hat.

"Alright," said Cadance, holding out the hat. "Grab one, Minerva."

McGonagall reached into her own hat and pulled out a piece of parchment. She opened it up and read, "The Angry Professors Who Were Reluctantly Forced Into Playing."

"Uncle Severus!" shrieked Cati. "Must you always be so cynical?"

* * *

The week of finals came and went, and finally then it was time for the big Staff vs. Students Quidditch Match. The stands filled up early because of the beautiful weather. The Order of the Phoenix was sitting together. "So," said Melinda, donning a pair of flashy sunglasses. "Who's going to win this game?" 

"Who knows?" said Arabella dismissively. "Who cares! Nothing good can come of this. I've got St. Mungo's on standby."

"I've got my money on the students," said Chris, slipping an arm around Melinda.

"Really?" asked Bill. "I think the Staff will win."

"Come on! They have haven't played Quidditch in years," asked Wyatt. "I'm with Chris."

"It's not something you _forget_ how to do! They were really good once!" argued Bill.

"Yeah… _once_," said Melinda. "This is _now_."

"Uncle Harry, who do you think will win?" asked Abby, who was sitting between Jen and George with little Freddy.

"I don't know. Personally, if I were the Gryffindor Beaters, I'd be hesitant to hit Bludgers at Minerva McGonagall," said Harry.

"I agree with Bill," said Sirius. "The Staff is going to win. I've seen half these guys take on Death Eaters. A bunch of teenagers on broomsticks is going to be nothing."

"Yeah, but they're not trying to _attack_ the students! They're trying to score more points than them," argued Melinda.

"You'd be surprised as to how many similarities there actually are between playing Quidditch and fighting Death Eaters," said Sirius.

"Am I the only one worried that Cadance and Cati will get the two confused?" asked Hermione.

Suddenly, the commentator's voice boomed over the crowd. "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! I'm your commentator, Lance Jordan, welcoming you to the first-ever Staff vs. Student Quidditch Match!"

"And I'm his father, Lee Jordan!" came another voice, magically magnified. "Former-Commentator and current Sports writer for the _Daily Prophet_, covering mostly Quidditch and once a Gobstones Tournament, which was incredibly dull."

"We've just been informed that the teams are almost ready to begin the game. In the meantime, we'd like to point out a few prominent guests in the crowd!" continued Lance. "First, we've got our wonderful referee, Ludo Bagman, who has volunteered out of the Department of Magical Games and Sports in the Ministry." Down on the field, Ludo Bagman, with broom in hand, raised one arm and waved at the cheering crowd.

"If you'll direct your attention to the southwest corner of the Quidditch Pitch the rest of the Hogwarts Staff is sitting, ready to support its team. And then, here on the North side of the Stadium, we've got Minister Arthur Weasley and his lovely wife Molly sitting with their family and some friends, including General Harry Potter, Head Auror. Harry Potter and his wife Ginny are veterans of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, as are a few other people sitting with them in the stands, including Ron Weasley, Fred Weasley, Kala Tomlinson, Sirius Black, Melinda Weasley, and Chris Halliwell," continued Lee.

"It should be interesting to know who the members of the extended Weasley family and their friends will be rooting for, considering they've got connections to both teams," said Lance.

"Incidentally, Molly Weasley is an _amazing_ cook," interrupted Lee. "Top-notch, really. I could live off of her Peanut Butter cookies…"

"And a few sections away, we've got Oliver Wood and his wife Katie," continued Lance. "Oliver Wood, as you probably know, played professional Quidditch on the Puddlemore United team. He and Katie are also veterans of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team. They've turned out today to watch their son, Jack, who is the Captain of the current Gryffindor Team."

"Speaking of the Gryffindor Team, here they come! Gryffindor really played a spectacular game against Slytherin in the Final of the Quidditch Cup Series here at Hogwarts…"

"How would you know?" interrupted Lance. "You weren't here."

"_Please_, Lance, I'm a clearly-biased commentator. They could have played like shit and I'd still say that!" argued Lee.

"Minerva's not here to yell at them. Should we say something?" asked Jen quietly to the others, as the two Jordans, sitting in the stands near them, continued to squabble a little.

"Like what?" asked Harry.

Jen took a deep breath and then barked, "JORDAN! GET ON WITH THE COMMENTARY!"

They both jumped and looked over. "Bloody hell! That was a dead-on impression of Minerva McGonagall!" exclaimed Lee Jordan.

"And here are your Gryffindor Lions!" exclaimed Lance. The team was now standing in the center of the Quidditch Pitch. "Captain and Keeper Jack Wood, Seeker James Potter, Chasers Molly Weasley, Billy Rows, and Dustin Brown, and Beaters Emily Sweeny and Anna McPherson!"

"And here comes the Staff team! Keeper Madame Helena Hooch, Chasers Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape, and Celeste Sinistra, Seeker Charlie Weasley, and Beaters Catalin Weasley and Cadance Weasley! Holy Hell, there are a lot of Weasleys on broomsticks…" trailed off Jordan. "And incidentally, Minerva McGonagall will be too busy concentrating on the game to reprimand us for biased or off-topic commentary, so as long as Jen Weasley doesn't do her impression of McGonagall again, you're going to get _much_ more interesting commentary. However, in the interest of fairness, Lance will be biased towards the Gryffindor team and I will be biased towards the Staff…"

"JORDAN! THE GAME STARTED, YOU IDIOT!" exclaimed Oliver Wood from his seat.

Lee continued with the commentary. "Right, so the players are up in the air and the Quaffle was taken by Gryffindor and Weasley's got possession. She's streaking towards the goal posts with Sinistra on her tail and Snape coming right at her… Yikes, if Snape was barreling towards _me_ on a broomstick with that look on his face, I'd definitely start flying in the opposite direction… BUT OH… she dodges Snape and takes a shot… Hooch blocks it!"

"The Staff is now in possession, with your very own Headmistress carrying the Quaffle…" said Lance picking up on the commentary. "She's passes to Sinistra. Sweeny sends a Bludger her way, but she dodges it as she passes to Snape. Snape is edging towards the goal posts…"

"Again, if Snape were coming at _me_ like that, I would high-tail it out of there… Look out, Wood!" interrupted Lee. "Staff Beater Cadance Weasley hits a Bludger at Sweeny, who was about to send a Bludger towards Snape, and Snape shoots… HE SCORES!"

"Yes!" exclaimed Hermione jumping up. "Go Staff!" Then she sat back down and said, "You'll get 'em next time, kids!" Everyone in the stands with her stared at her oddly. "I'm torn!" she explained.

"See Arabella," said Jen. "You've been worrying for nothing. This game hasn't turned violent or anything."

"Have you _never_ seen Cati when she's angry!" exclaimed Arabella.

"But… she's not going to get angry over something like _Quidditch,_ is she?" asked Hermione. "_Rational people_ don't …"

"AH, HELL!"

She was interrupted as Harry and Ron jumped up and began screaming. Apparently, McGonagall had been in possession of the Quaffle when Billy Rows flew in front of her. She had turned sharply to avoid hitting him and dropped the Quaffle in the process. Gryffindor had regained possession.

"Come on, Minerva, you gotta do better than that!" exclaimed Harry. "That's amateur! Bowl them over if you have to!"

"Ref, that's a foul! You gotta make those calls, Ludo!" exclaimed Ron.

"Well, students," commented Lance Jordan. "Looks like we've learned something here that you can use to your advantage! They're trying _not_ to hurt you…"

Cati was flying right by the stands where the Order was sitting. "Hmmmm…" she said. "That sounded like a challenge!"

"Uh oh," said Hermione, Jen, Ginny, and Arabella at the same time.

One hour of play and three fouls later, the score was tied 70-70 and the Snitch had not be sighted yet. Lee Jordan currently had control of the commentary. "Gryffindor in possession! Weasley to Rows, back to Weasley, back to Rows, to Brown, who shoots…. No good! Staff now in possession. McGonagall passes to Snape. Snape dodges Rows and passes to Sinistra…. Incidentally, Mrs. Weasley, could you get me your peanut butter cookie recipe?..."

"Snape scores, 80-70 Staff!" interrupted Lance.

"…because they really are very delicious," continued Lee. 'I'd like to have a little jar of them in my office so I could have a few of them with lunch every day." Suddenly, a Bludger whizzed by Lee's head, causing him to jump. "Hey!" Up in the air, Cadance and Cati exchanged a high-five.

"Student Chaser Weasley has the Quaffle," said Lance, picking up on the commentary. "She dodges between the Staff Chasers and…OUCH!" Molly was hit by a Bludger and was almost knocked off of her broom. She grabbed on to the handle to steady herself, but lost possession of the Quaffle. "So Molly Weasley is almost unseated by her own aunt and Sinistra has possession of the Quaffle…"

"CADANCE!" shrieked Hermione from the stands.

"It looks like Potter sees something!" exclaimed Lee Jordan, interrupting his son's commentary. Everyone's focus turned to James, who was speeding across the Pitch. Charlie quickly headed in the same direction. "The race for the Snitch is on!"

"They're neck-and-neck! The Snitch is really giving them a fight!" exclaimed Lance. It was true. The Snitch was dancing just out of their reach as it zoomed about the Pitch. James could feel Charlie just at his left shoulder, but he didn't dare take his eye off of the Snitch. The rest of the game had come to a halt as the players from both teams stopped to watch the two Seekers.

"I can't watch," said Ginny putting her head in her hands.

Harry and Ron were on their feet and leaning over the railing to get a better look. "Boys, how do you suppose it will look when I have to explain to the papers that the Head Auror died because he flipped over the railing during a Quidditch Match?" asked Mr. Weasley. Ron and Harry ignored him.

"GO, GO, GO!" exclaimed Harry.

"CATCH THAT LITTLE BUGGER!" added Ron. "Hey, who are we rooting for?

"I don't know! I just want someone to catch the Snitch!" exclaimed Harry. "COME ON!"

The Snitch started heading downwards. James and Charlie both went into a dive. James suddenly didn't feel Charlie at his shoulder anymore. He assumed that because Charlie was a bit bigger he had trouble going into the dive so quickly. James smiled to himself and tried to make his fingers stretch just a bit further as the ground was coming ever nearer when suddenly something popped up in front of him. James gasped and rolled his broom to avoid collision, but instead slid off his broom, landing on the floor of the Pitch, only two feet below.

"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!" came Lee Jordan's voice. "Charlie Weasley has spiraled around Potter and grabbed the Snitch out from under him!" James looked over and saw Charlie slide off his broom. He walked over and offered him a hand.

"So you're going to have to teach me that for next season," said James, as Charlie pulled him to his feet.

"What, the Seeker Spiral?" asked Charlie. "You got it." And in spite of the fact that James had just lost the match, they both broke into grins.

"Alright, so the Staff wins 230 to 70," said Lance, a little put out.

"Haha! Staff wins!" exclaimed Lee.

"They have longer arms," argued Lance.

"Sore loser."

"Giant child."

The rest of the team was landing. Cadance and Cati looked thrilled as they ran over to Charlie dropping their brooms and clubs on the field as they ran. "YOU DID IT!" exclaimed Cadance jumping on him, almost knocking him over.

"Nice job spotting the Snitch though, James," said Cati ruffling his hair.

"Yeah, yeah," said James wrinkling his nose at her and pushing her hand away. "Don't touch my head."

"Can we _please_ leave this all behind us now?" asked McGonagall. "And get back to serious business?" She, Snape, Hooch, and Sinistra had just joined them as well. Hooch and Sinistra looked mildly pleased with themselves, though not nearly as much as Cadance and Cati. Snape and McGonagall somehow managed to look surly.

"You know you had fun," said Cati.

"Hardly."

"Uncle Severus?" asked Cati, raising her eyebrows at him, and taking on a wheedling tone. "Come on. Admit it. You enjoyed yourself."

"No."

"Uncle Severus," wheedled Cati.

"Catalin, say one more word to me on the subject and I'm going to make sure you regret it," said Snape.

Cati stared at him for a second, looking put out. Then, with her face set and determined, said, "SEVERUS SNAPE WAS NICE TO KITTENS!" before taking off for the dressing rooms. Snape stomped off towards the castle as James tried to suppress a laugh.

By this time, the stands were emptying on the Pitch. The Order of the Phoenix had made their way over to them, as had the Gryffindor team. "This was probably for the best," conceded Molly with a sigh as she walked up to them. "Can you imagine Aunt Cati's reaction if she would have lost?" Arabella shot Hermione, Jen, and Ginny a look that said "I told you so."

"Hey, James. Did we ever tell you that your Uncle Charlie could have played Quidditch for England?" asked Bill casually.

"No, you didn't," said James. "And you would think that would be something you guys might have mentioned."

Cadance was about to open her mouth to make a comment when suddenly something at the entrance to the Pitch caught her eye. An Auror was making his way purposefully towards them. Cadance locked eyes with him and tilted her head to the side. The Auror nodded. Cadance nudged Harry's side, but it wasn't necessary, he had seen him, too. By the time he reached them, everyone was staring silently at them.

"Where?" asked Cadance with a sigh.

"Bristol," he answered.

"CATI, THE DEATH EATERS ARE ATTACKING BRISTOL, WE GOTTA GO!" exclaimed Cadance at the dressing rooms.

"OH BOY!" exclaimed Cati as she ran out of her hiding spot. "THIS DAY JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER!" She picked up her club that she had left lying on the field and then added, "I'M READY, LET'S GO!"

"Uhh, Cati, maybe you should leave the club… actually, no, I kind of want to see how this plays out," said Harry shaking his head. He started walking across the field towards the entrance to the Pitch as the rest of the Aurors in the Order fell into step behind him.

"Can you believe our luck?" exclaimed Cati with excitement. "First we beat the kids at Quidditch and now we get to go kick some ass!"

* * *

**Well, Kassy wins the pizza in this chapter. If more people review, I'll actually give them pizza _in_ the chapter. REVIEW**


	24. A Little Trip Down Memory Lane

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as someone else's!!!**

**A/N: For the love of God, please review!**

* * *

"Well, guys, I'm proud of all of you," said Harry. He sat in the largest meeting room in the Auror Department around a large table with the rest of the Aurors from the Order of the Phoenix, including Arabella, Moody, and McGonagall. Some of them sat in an orderly fashion. Others, like Cadance and Cati, had draped themselves in the chair in a way that they found most comfortable.

And they certainly looked like an interesting group. Their clothes were in various stages of disarray, characteristic of having been involved in a Death Eater battle. Also, bruises and cuts were visible on nearly everyone.

Harry had his feet propped up on the table and the chair balanced on the two back legs. "I think this may be the first battle in a long while that I can say, with confidence, that we won," Harry continued.

"Yeah, it's a refreshing change of pace," said Cati, who had her head tilted back and was pressing an icepack to her eye which was black-and-blue. Her beater's club was laid on the table.

Just then, the door opened and Mr. Weasley walked with Charlie and Bill right behind. "It's very rare that I get a message after a Death Eater battle that says '_Come to Ministry. Bring wine and rum_'. What's going on?" asked Charlie.

"We basically just kicked ass," said Harry.

"Yeah, and I'll take that rum," said Cati, extending her hand.

"What happened to your eye?" asked Bill, handing it to her.

"You should see the other guy!" exclaimed Cati as she uncorked the bottle.

"So what happened?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"Harry's a bloody little genius, that's what happened!" exclaimed Cadance, hopping up. "Alright, so we get to the Ministry and we find out that 60 Aurors have already been dispatched to the scene. As it turns out, Harry had the amazing foresight to have a bunch of Aurors not just _on call_, but waiting in the Ministry in case anything happened today, since there would be a delay in getting to all of us since we were at Hogwarts."

"The call came in and they were in Bristol less than two minutes later! By the time we got there the Death Eaters were already being kept at bay. Factor all of us into the equation and it comes out to a major ass-kicking," said Ron

"Sirius bit one's leg!" exclaimed Cati. "He bit him!" Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Charlie all stared at Sirius curiously. "He transformed into a dog first. Did I mention he transformed into a dog first?"

"And we have some Death Eaters in custody," said Harry. "They're all locked in separate offices. We've got to find some sort of temporary prison since we've lost Azkaban."

"What offices are they in?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"One of them is in yours. Was that not a good idea?" commented Cadance.

"She's kidding," said Harry, shooting her a look. "We've got them down in some of the offices in the Department of Internal Affairs, since they all have all weekend off and nobody's there. We've got Aurors guarding the doors."

"Wait a second," said Cadance, jumping up again. "We unlocked the Internal Affairs offices? Nobody from Internal Affairs is there? And I can get in there if I just flash my badge at the Aurors guarding the doors?"

"What are you getting at?" asked Harry.

"I'll be right back," she said, and then she sprinted out of the room.

"Wait for me! This sounds like an adventure!" exclaimed Cati, following.

"Harry, I don't want to tell you how to handle your Aurors, but you probably shouldn't have let them do that," said McGonagall.

"You try saying no to them!" argued Harry.

"I do all the time," said McGonagall.

"And what happens?" asked Harry.

"They… do it anyway usually," said McGonagall.

"Exactly," said Harry. "Best to let these things play out and deal with the consequences later. It's easier than fighting them."

"We'd better get back to Hogwarts," said Mr. Weasley. "Albus made sure the rest of the Order stayed in case this attack was just a diversion so they could attack the castle when it was vulnerable. We should probably have a meeting. Oh, and Kala's got more rum back in the meeting room waiting."

"Hot stuff!" exclaimed Sirius. "Leave Cadance and Cati a note and let's go!"

* * *

The Order had just started what could be considered a celebration when Cadance and Cati kicked the door open, their arms laden with stacks of file-folders.

"What in the name of all things good and sacred is that?" asked Charlie, almost positive he didn't want to know the answer.

"These, my dear husband, are our Ministry Personnel Files," said Cadance.

"Just yours and Cati's?" asked Bill incredulously.

"No, don't be silly," said Cadance. "Just the two big ones are mine and Cati's." Sure enough, they could see that two of the files were several times larger than the others. "The rest of these are all of yours!"

"Cadance, you can't look at your personnel file!" chastised McGonagall.

"Oh, yes I can," said Cadance. "And I'm gonna."

"Cadance, she's right. We're not allowed to look," said Harry.

"That's right, Harry. Be firm with them," said McGonagall.

"Cadance, as your Head Auror, I'm ordering you _not_ to look at your personnel file," said Harry.

Cadance and Cati exchanged a look and then stuck their bottom lips out and made their eyes really wide. "Uh oh," said McGonagall. "They're making the face! Avert your eyes, Harry! Don't look straight at them!" She and Harry both turned their heads. "Arthur, back us up here!"

"Sorry, I've never been able to say no to them," said Mr. Weasley. "You're on your own."

"Come on! They've got files on all of the Order of the Phoenix, too, since we had to register with the Ministry! This could be fun!" exclaimed Cati. She began to pass the folders out.

"Really, girls, there's a _reason_ you're not supposed to look in your personnel folder!" argued McGonagall. "The contents can be upsetting."

"Oh, it's alright, Minerva. I've seen everyone's personnel files. They're no more upsetting than the things we see every day," said Arthur.

"Like Sirius's ugly mug," commented Cati.

"Not cool," said Sirius shaking his head.

"The most interesting thing in mine is the report about me being locked in a trunk for months over 20 years ago," said Moody. "It must be really boring to work in the Department of Internal Affairs."

"Don't worry, it looks like Cadance and Cati kept them on their toes," said Sirius tossing his file to the side and reading over Cadance's shoulder.

"Damn straight," said Cati.

Sirius looked at the front page of Cadance's report. The front page of all the files had a picture and included relevant information such as date of birth, address, siblings, spouse, parents, other immediate relatives, emergency contact information, and various Auror certification information. It was kept up-to-date. On Cadance's form under her place of residence, there was an X through an address in London and the address of the Dumbledore family home in Godric's Hollow that Jen currently resided in. Finally, it just listed "HOGWARTS". Her emergency contact changed from Dumbledore to Cati to Charlie. There were also notations as to each time she left the Auroring Department and rejoined it.

Sirius pointed at the picture. "Hey, Cadance?" he asked. "Why is Cati in your Auror picture with you?"

"Oh, that was the picture for my very first Auror license," said Cadance.

Sirius blinked. "Why is Cati in your Auror picture with you?" he repeated.

"She popped in!" exclaimed Cadance happily.

"You popped into mine first," said Cati turning the file around to show everyone that Cadance was in hers as well.

"Alright, alright, that's enough," said Harry. "Pass the files this way. It's time for dinner."

"I want to keep mine," said Cadance.

"No," said Harry, looking her squarely in the eyes. She was about to stick out her bottom lip when Harry added, "Don't even start."

"Why can't we keep them?!" asked Cadance. "We didn't get to look at them yet!"

"Because I'm the Head Auror and I said so," said Harry. "And don't you slant your eyebrows at me, Catalin Marie Nuperson Weasley. Or you, Cadance."

Dumbledore decided to step in then and help. "You could stand here arguing or you could go to the Great Hall and get food," he said. Cadance and Cati exchanged a look and then dashed out the door. Everyone else shuffled out after them chatting amiably except Harry and Dumbledore. Harry flipped through a file as they all left the room.

"I'll help you take these back to the Department of Internal Affairs," offered Dumbledore, as Harry began to gather up the personnel files.

"I'm not taking them back there," said Harry. "These are going to my office. I'm locking them up."

"Good idea. Cadance and Cati will probably try to get into Internal Affairs," said Dumbledore.

"I'm not worried about Cadance and Cati," said Harry. "Look at these files. Incident reports. Psych reports. Strengths. Weaknesses. Everything that Voldemort needs to destroy us is _right here_ in these files. Look at this!" He flipped open to a page in Cadance's file. "A note from Bob Reynolds following an incident involving a demon in Tipsy's Tavern." He pushed the file to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore read aloud, "_I was contacted in an unofficial capacity by Andrew Nuperson, who wanted me there to help secure the scene. By the time I arrived at Tipsy's Tavern, Cadance Dumbledore was sitting at the bar, being tended to by civilian friend Charlie Weasley. Catalin Nuperson had the humanoid demon pinned to the floor; she had one foot planted firmly on his chest and the other heel dug into his throat. C. Nuperson had become enraged when she found out the demon had attacked Dumbledore and C. Nuperson had nearly killed the demon before being stopped. No official report was filed, and the demon was released. _

"_I feel it necessary to write a note about this incident to put in Dumbledore's file. Some things just don't make it into official reports, which are based solely on the facts surrounding the incident. Emotion never makes it into reports written by Aurors who are trained not to convey them. Had a report been filed on this incident, it would not have conveyed the most important information learned from the incident: These two girls would do anything for each other._"

"I'm going to read these files and hopefully learn something and then I'm going to make sure they're destroyed," said Harry.

"That shows tremendous foresight, Harry," said Dumbledore.

"Sir, I have a question about this incident," said Harry.

"I wasn't there, Harry," said Dumbledore.

"Yes, but you must have heard about it. Reynolds's note goes on to describe Cadance's injuries. She would have had to get medical attention. You must have known about it. Someone would have told you," said Harry.

"Yes, Harry, I knew about it," said Dumbledore.

"Why didn't Cati vanquish the demon? If it hurt Cadance, why was it released?" asked Harry. "The report indicates that Cati would have killed it, but someone stopped her. Why would someone stop her? It's a demon and it attacked. Cati was doing her job. Who stopped her?"

Dumbledore paused for a long while and Harry began to wonder if he was going to answer. "The demon was… someone they knew," answered Dumbledore, sounding if he was picking his words carefully. "Cadance stopped Cati from vanquishing it."

"Why?" asked Harry. "Why would she do that?"

"You'll have to ask someone who was there, Harry," answered Dumbledore. "I'm technically dead. I'm just here to guide; I'm not here to do your job for you."

"If it was someone they knew, it's probably a touchy subject," said Harry. "I'd feel bad bringing it up with Cadance and Cati if it is."

"Cadance and Cati aren't the only ones mentioned in that note," said Dumbledore pointing at it. He turned to leave. "See you at dinner."

Harry paused for a second to think about what Dumbledore said, and then he pulled out his wand and waved it over the files. They disappeared. He followed Dumbledore out of the meeting room.

* * *

"So, what did Cadance do this time?" asked Charlie, as he entered Harry's office the following afternoon.

"What makes you so sure that I want to talk about Cadance?" asked Harry, as Charlie took a seat in front of the desk.

"Please, Harry," said Charlie. "I'm not an Auror. The only reason you would call me to _your office_ would be to discuss my wonderfully weird yet endearing wife, who _is_ an Auror."

"You caught me," said Harry.

"What is it, Harry?" asked Charlie.

"The personnel files," said Harry. "I was flipping through them and I came across a note from Bob Reynolds during Cadance's early Auror days."

"You'd be better off talking to Cati about that," said Charlie.

"Actually, this involved Cati as well," said Harry. "And I'm afraid it might be of a sensitive nature. That why I've decided to turn to a secondary source."

"Me," said Charlie.

"Exactly," said Harry. "Do you remember the night of June 5th, 1990?"

"Harry, that was over 25-years-ago," said Charlie.

"There was an incident at Tipsy's Tavern. Drew Nuperson called in Bob Reynolds. Cati attacked a demon that attacked Cadance," said Harry, in an attempt to jog Charlie's memory.

"Stuff like that happened all the time," said Charlie. "You're going to have to be a bit more specific."

Harry paused. "I showed Dumbledore the report last night and he said to do my own investigation because he's just here as a guide. However, he did tell me that Cadance and Cati knew the demon," elaborated Harry.

Charlie sat back in his chair and stared off into space for a few seconds. Harry thought he looked like he might be doing some math in his head. Charlie sighed. "Cati never killed the demon that night?" asked Charlie.

"No, the demon wasn't killed," answered Harry.

"Cadance stopped Cati?" asked Charlie.

"That's the one," said Harry.

"Tipsy's closes early on Wednesday nights," said Charlie.

"What does this have to do with…"

"I'm telling you the story, Harry," said Charlie. "Tipsy's closes early on Wednesday nights. Kala stops serving around 10:45 and then has everyone out by 11:00. We were planning on going back to Cadance and Cati's flat once Kala closed up that night. It was me, Cadance, Cati, Bill, Drew, and Cati's boyfriend Matt. Cadance was waiting for her boyfriend, Owen, who had let her know earlier that evening that he was tied up at work and he was going to be late and that he would meet her there. Because we were friends with Kala, she would let us stay after the bar closed and trusted us to lock up. Owen knew this so he knew that even if he didn't get out of there until after 11:00, Cadance would be at the bar waiting for him."

"So the demon attacked after the bar closed?" interrupted Harry.

"Cadance seemed on edge all night, but we didn't think anything of it. Cadance had found out that the Ministry had no idea where Jen was not long before that," continued Charlie. "Anyway, Cadance told us she would lock up and she didn't need anyone to wait with her. So we went back to Cadance and Cati's place and she was going to meet us there when Owen arrived."

"So the demon attacked when she was alone?" asked Harry, interrupting again.

"We got back to the flat, and Cati found the Book of Light lying on the coffee table, open to a page about a certain demon," said Charlie. "She picked it up to put it away in Cadance's room, because they really don't like to leave the book lying around. It's just not safe. She got a premonition off of the page that it was open to. It was of Cadance being attacked. There was no picture of the demon on the page about it, but the premonition was clear enough that Cati recognized the attacker. The demon was one of those that retained human form. You wouldn't be able to tell he was a demon just by looking at him. A lot of demons at Tipsy's are like that."

"And Cati knew who the demon was?" asked Harry. "She recognized him in her premonition and realized that he was a demon because she was touching that page in the Book of Light when she had the premonition?"

"Yes," answered Charlie. "We rushed back to the bar and got there just in time. He was about to finish her off."

"So who was it?" asked Harry. "Who was the demon?"

Charlie paused. Before he could answer, Cadance's voice broke the silence. "My boyfriend," she said. They looked up to see her standing in the doorway. "It was Owen." There was more silence as they looked at each other for several seconds. "If you wanted to know about it, you could have asked, Harry."

"I thought it might be a touchy subject," said Harry. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be," said Cadance taking a seat next to Charlie. "Go ahead. Ask it. I know you're going to."

"You didn't let Cati kill him," said Harry. There was no point in phrasing it as a question. She already knew he was going to ask.

"I didn't let Cati kill him," said Cadance. "Because it would have been different from all the other vanquishes we do. Worse."

"What?" asked Harry.

"Cati and I were brought up to use our powers to vanquish demons. That's how we were raised, and that's our _duty_. You don't get gifts without the duties that come with them, Harry," said Cadance. "But those are all detached killings. I didn't know those demons personally. I didn't… _sleep with_ any of those demons. I knew this one. This wouldn't have been a vanquish; it would have been murder."

"So there is a line between vanquish and murder," commented Harry.

"Yes. It's called emotion," said Cadance. "If we killed a Death Eater, Harry, would it be a murder or a vanquish?"

"A vanquish," said Harry. "It would save lives and it's our job."

"I would have saved lives by letting Cati kill Owen that day," commented Cadance. "And killing demons happens to be Cati's and my job."

"And I don't think that killing Owen would have been murder," said Harry. "I disagree with you."

"Do you, Harry?" asked Cadance. "Because the evidence shows otherwise."

"What are you talking about?" asked Harry.

"Think back a long time, Harry," said Cadance. "Peter Pettigrew. You stopped Sirius and Remus from killing him a long time ago. You said that you figured that your father wouldn't want them becoming killers on account of filth like Pettigrew."

"I was young and stupid. Because of that, Voldemort was able to rise again," said Harry. "It was a mistake and I regret it."

"Likewise, I regret letting Owen go," said Cadance. "It would have saved lives to let Cati vanquish him then. But if I had let Cati kill him, I wouldn't have known that I was saving lives. I only would have known that I let her murder him. And even if you had let Sirius and Remus kill Pettigrew, Voldemort would have found another pawn to aid him in his rise to power. You can only delay the inevitable, Harry. You cannot stop it. You would have felt guilty about Pettigrew for the rest of your life."

"Now, I feel guilty about _not_ letting them kill him," said Harry.

"Owen killed a little girl a week after I made Cati let him go," said Cadance. "He nearly killed Charlie another week or so after that. I, too, know what it's like to feel guilty about your decisions."

Charlie reached over and silently took Cadance's hand. She gave him a small smile before standing up. The tone of her voice suddenly changed. "Well, this has been a deep and meaningful conversation, Harry," she said. "And that's very uncharacteristic of me. I'm going to go put some sand in the copy machine to make up for it. I'll see you back at the castle, Charlie." She kissed his forehead and did a very Cati-like bouncing step out of the office.

"That was… surreal," said Harry staring after her.

"She's an enigma, that one," said Charlie shaking his head.

* * *

**Please just review!!! Just click the button and write "I read this chapter!" if nothing else! It makes me happy. I can see that you read because of the hit counter, but it just seems weird to me that I'm getting over a hundred hits to each chapter and yet NOBODY reviews!!!! REVIEW!**


	25. In Which One Character Leaves

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as someone else's. Obviously J.K. Rowling own Harry Potter et al.**

**A/N: Big, extra-special pizzas go out to dave, Whitelighter Enchantress, and lionsmane for their reviews!!!!!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!**

* * *

"Hey, Cati," said Cadance, glancing over at her friend as the two lay on towels by the lake, basking in the sun.

"Yeah, Cadance?" answered Cati as she lifted up her head to see Cadance better.

"Do you have a feeling we're forgetting something?" asked Cadance.

"Hmmmm," said Cati, pushing her sunglasses up on top of her head. She began to tick off things on her fingers as she spoke. "The students are gone. Their finals are graded. The Order Meeting isn't until after dinner. Those reports for Harry are all done…"

"… And sitting on your desk," said Cadance with a sigh.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" asked Cati, rolling onto her side, propping herself up with her elbow, and holding out a fist.

"Right," said Cadance, matching her.

"Rock, paper, scissors, shoot!"

"Paper covers rock," said Cati, sliding her sunglasses back over her eyes, and rolling back over onto her back. "And get me a margarita on your way back."

"Yes, princess," said Cadance, as she got to her feet. "I'll be back."

"I'll miss you," said Cati

Cadance hurried back up to the castle and into Cati's office. After grabbing the reports from Cati's desk, she used Floo Powder to go to the Ministry. She went directly to Harry's office. He appeared busy, and didn't even notice when she walked in.

"Major Cadance Weasley reporting for duty, sir, General Potter, sir!" exclaimed Cadance, snapping to attention.

"Do you have my reports?" asked Harry without looking up.

"Yes, two reports from Aurors CRDD2301 and CMN2303, ready to be filed," said Cadance.

"Add them to the pile," said Harry, still not looking up.

"What have you got here?" asked Cadance, looking at what he was reading.

"I'm buried in paperwork, understaffed, and will probably be late for the meeting tonight," said Harry.

"Oh," said Cadance. "Well, I'm going to go back to sunbathing."

Harry looked up and glared daggers at her. Cadance sighed. "What can I do to help?"

"Read the incident reports and let me know if anything needs my attention," said Harry. "I'm working on reading papers from people who filed for promotions."

"Alright," said Cadance. "But I hope you know this means that Cati is laying by the lake by herself and will therefore be very angry with me later."

"I'm sure she'll get over it," said Harry.

Meanwhile, back at the lake…

"Where'd Cadance go?" asked Bill, as he came and sat down on the towel that Cadance had vacated.

"Uhhhh... I don't remember," said Cati, without opening her eyes.

Bill looked left, then right and then back down at Cati. "Did the Giant Squid get her again?"

"It's hard to care when you're this relaxed," said Cati.

* * *

"Harry, I'm starving," said Cadance. "We've been at this for 2 hours. The Order is meeting in an hour. Let's go eat something at Hogwarts before the meeting."

"Just 10 more minutes," said Harry.

"Harry, if we don't break now, I'm going to eat _you_," said Cadance pointedly.

Harry looked up. "I'll go files these, then I'll meet you at Hogwarts," he said, standing up and gathering his papers.

"Good deal," she said, gathering the unfinished paperwork as Harry left his office.

She was just stacking them neatly in a corner when a tall man entered Harry's office. "Ah, Major Weasley," he said.

Cadance turned at the sound of his voice. She gave him a small smile. "Yes?" she asked. "I'm sorry, do I know…"

"Your reputation precedes you. I'm Major Frank Brown," he said, extending his hand. Cadance shook it. "I was just looking for General Potter."

"He went to file some papers before leaving for the day," answered Cadance. "I'm sorry, I thought I knew all the other Majors…"

"I'm not in the Auror Department," said Brown. "You don't know?"

"I don't," responded Cadance, eyeing him curiously.

"I was the one who requested you and Catalin Weasley for promotion into our department, but General Potter said you couldn't be spared," he said. Cadance still looked blank. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you?"

"Let's have a little chat elsewhere, Major Brown," said Cadance gesturing him out the door.

* * *

"So Cadance never came back from the Ministry?" asked Charlie, as Harry wolfed down dinner in the Order of the Phoenix meeting room. The meeting was supposed to start any minute and everyone was already there except Cadance.

"She said she'd meet me here," said Harry, barely understandable because his mouth was full of food. "She said she was starving. Maybe she's in the kitchens."

"Did you see here when you were down there?" asked Sirius.

"No," said Harry. He took a large bite of his roll.

"She could have been hiding," suggested Ron.

"_Ron_," said Charlie, rolling his eyes.

"No, no," said Cati, deep in thought. "He's got a point."

"Maybe she's eating in her room," suggested Jen.

"Maybe…" began George before he was cut off as the door opened rather violently. Cadance walked in.

"Harry," she said, sounding way calmer than she looked, which was never a good thing. "Is there something you'd like to tell me and Cati?"

Harry paused with the roll half-way to his mouth. "You're both radiant?" he suggested.

Cadance swiped the roll from his hand, causing him to jump, and pegged it at his head. "I ran into Major Brown today on my way out of the Ministry."

Harry seemed to shrink a little. "Look, I can explain…"

"Explain what?" piped in Cati. She looked from Cadance, who was glaring, to Harry. "What's going on?"

"Cadance, you don't…." started Harry.

"_Harry_," spat Cadance, "has forgotten to inform Cati and I that we were asked to join the Department of Mysteries."

There was a stunned silence that followed. Bill and Charlie exchanged a troubled glance. Harry ran his hand through his hair nervously and looked at the floor. "I told them that I couldn't spare any of my best Aurors at the moment," he explained.

"But you didn't tell _us_," said Cadance. "What were you thinking?!"

"I was thinking about the lower _survival_ _rate_ in the Department of Mysteries," said Harry.

"It's not your job to protect us," argued Cadance.

"_Yes_, it is!"

"I told Major Brown that I would tell Cati about the offer and that we would think about it," said Cadance. Harry stared blankly at her, unsure of how to react.

"You're not going to take it, are you?!" exploded Charlie.

"Charlie, we'll talk about this later," said Cadance.

"Actually, I was told that anything mentioned in this meeting room is automatically open to interpretation, critique, and ridicule by the rest of the group," said Chris. "I think that applies here."

"Hey, Chris, if you want to stay on the good side of your girlfriend's parents, you'd better shut your yapper," said Cadance, pointing a finger at him.

"Noted," said Chris.

Everyone stared at her, as if wanting her to explain more. "If it makes anyone in this room feel better, it would only be a temporary appointment to the Department of Mysteries," said Cadance, rolling her eyes.

"Why's that? Because you won't be alive long enough for anything besides a temporary appointment?" asked Remus.

"Don't you start, Remus. I was banking on you being on my side with this," said Cadance.

"So you _are_ taking it then?" said Charlie, in an accusing tone.

"I didn't say that, "said Cadance.

"Why only temporary?" asked Bill.

"They have a… what did he call it?... _an operation_," explained Cadance. "He said we'd be perfect for it."

"What kind of an operation?" asked Cati.

"He wouldn't release most details without our commitment to the project," said Cadance. "He told me no more than was necessary."

"Including level of risk?" asked Bill.

Cadance paused. "High," she answered.

"Perfect," said Charlie, running one hand over his face.

"How long?" asked Jen.

"We start as soon as possible," said Cadance. "Could last a couple of months. Maybe more. Maybe less."

"Albus, Minerva, Arabella, surely one of _you_ have something to say to talk them out of this," said Remus. "Arthur. Molly. _Someone_."

"I'm just here to guide," said Dumbledore. "I'm technically dead."

"Oh good," said Charlie. "Then you and Cadance and Cati can hang out when they're dead, too."

"Charlie!" exclaimed Cadance angrily.

"Cadance," said Arthur quietly, speaking up for the first time. "Consider one thing before you make a decision. If someone came to Melinda with this offer, what would _you_ do?"

Cadance and Melinda locked eyes for a second. Then Cadance said, "I would tie her up, lock her in a closet, and stop her from going." She pulled out her wand and twirled it through her fingers. "And if anyone here can tie me up, I'll willingly stay behind."

"Sounds like you already made up your mind," said Charlie, quietly.

"I think we should probably end this meeting now," said Cadance, unable to look at him. "Cati, let's go have a chat." Cati nodded and followed her out the door.

There was a few seconds where nobody said anything, and then Sirius said, "So how should we go about tying them up? We've got to have a plan, or else there may be some casualties."

"I'm sorry," said Harry, shaking his head. "I tried to hide it from them."

"Can't you tell them that they can't go?" asked Jen, turning to McGonagall.

"Yes, because they _always_ do what _I_ say," said McGonagall sarcastically.

"I think you should let them go," said Wendy.

"Hey, whose side are you on?!" exclaimed Sirius.

"For crying out loud, there's a Dark Lord running around. He's been around for _a long time_. Don't you think you're being a little bit selfish by wanting them to stay?" asked Wendy.

"No," said Sirius, shaking his head. "And you just lost speaking privileges." Wendy cocked her head and raised her eyebrows at him.

"Excuse me?" she asked in a dangerous tone.

Sirius turned to Harry. "Can I sleep in your spare room? The couch hurts my back."

"Cadance was asked to join the Department of Mysteries once before. How did you get her to say no then?" asked Jen.

"I asked her to marry me," said Charlie.

"Oh," said Jen. "So that probably only works the one time then."

* * *

Cadance and Cati went into Cadance room, locked the door, and then sat on the bed. "What do you think, Cati?" asked Cadance.

"I'm kind of wishing we had a few more details," said Cati. "For example, why _us_? Why _now_?"

"I know, I was thinking that, too," said Cadance. "Major Brown said he went to Harry two days ago. Last time, Minerva and I were asked was because we escaped from Voldemort's lair. We were asked just a day later. We broke you guys out of Slytherin's lair a few weeks ago. What's happened _recently _to make them ask _us_?"

"There was that Death Eater battle last week," suggested Cati.

"No, that was brilliance on Harry's part, not ours," said Cadance. "Nothing's happened in the last few days on _our_ end. It must be something on _their _end."

"Whose end? The Department of Mysteries' or Voldemort's?" asked Cati.

"I don't know. Could be either," said Cadance. "It could be both."

"But it's something," said Cati. It was a cross between a statement and a question.

"It's an anomaly," said Cadance.

"Enigma," corrected Cati.

"I hate enigmas."

"I can live with them." Cadance and Cati locked eyes for a few seconds. "Cadance…"

"They don't necessarily need both of us, Cate," said Cadance, seeing where she was going.

"Melinda is mostly grown," said Cati. "Vivien's hardly 12. I'm not saying that the fact that Melinda is grown up makes it easier for you to go. It's not. But the fact that Vivien's so young does make it easier for me to _stay_."

"I know," said Cadance. "Vivien's already lost her mom once. She just got her back. It would be unfair for her to lose her again so soon."

"But _you're_ going," said Cati, again half-statement, half-question.

"There was a reason they asked us," said Cadance. "I have to help. I've _got _to."

Cati paused. "We're _really_ not doing this together?"

"I know. This is huge," said Cadance.

"We've only _voluntarily_ parted ways once before and that was when you came to teach at Hogwarts," pointed out Cati.

"I know," said Cadance.

"You'd better go tell Charlie," said Cati. "He's going to be devastated."

Cadance heaved a sigh. "I know," she said. Cati pulled her into a hug. They held onto each other for a few seconds.

"Come on," said Cati, tilting her head towards the door. They stepped out into the common room, where Charlie and Bill were sitting silently in arm chairs. They both hopped up when Cadance and Cati came entered and looked at them expectantly. Cadance and Cati exchanged a look. Cati squeezed Cadance's hand then went to go stand next to Bill, who wrapped his arms around her.

"Charlie," said Cadance. "I need to talk to you." She turned around and headed back into her room. Charlie followed, and closed the door behind him. Cadance was sitting on the bed.

"Hey, kid," said Charlie, casually. "Long day?" Cadance gave him a week smile and he sat next to her on the bed and took her hand.

"Cati doesn't want to go on the mission," said Cadance, squeezing his hand. "She can't bring herself to leave Vivien like that again."

"Thank God," said Charlie, breathing a sigh of relief and pulling her close to kiss her temple.

"No, Charlie, you don't understand," said Cadance, locking eyes with him. "_Cati_ is not going."

It took Charlie a second to realize what she meant. "You're still going?" he asked.

"It's something I have to do," said Cadance. "They picked us for a reason."

Charlie wrapped his arms around her and she rested her head on his chest. "When will I get to see you?" he asked.

"I don't know. Every few weeks, maybe," she answered into his chest.

"I'm afraid of losing you," said Charlie.

"Hey," said Cadance, looking up at him. "Not going to happen." Charlie put one finger under her chin and kissed her.

"When do you have to tell the Department of Mysteries that you'll do it?" he asked.

"Before Major Brown leaves the department tonight," said Cadance. Charlie's lips moved down to Cadance's neck. "I suppose I have some time…"

* * *

McGonagall was sitting at her desk, absentmindedly stirring her tea while staring blankly at some letters she should have been responding to when there came a soft knock on her door. "Come in," she called. Charlie entered. "Well?" McGonagall was skipping the formalities.

Charlie sat down in front of her desk. "Cadance is going. Cati is not."

"What?" asked McGonagall, cocking an eyebrow. "They're splitting up?"

"Yeah," answered Charlie.

"Surely this is a sign of the apocalypse," said McGonagall.

"Cadance went to the Department of Mysteries to tell them she's going," continued Charlie. "She just got back. She's packing now."

"Packing?" asked McGonagall.

"She leaves in the morning, and she has no idea how long before she can come back," said Charlie.

McGonagall sighed. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"No, I'm not," said Charlie, shaking his head. He paused before changing the subject. "Cadance has worked it out with the Department of Mysteries. She's going to be able to send messages back to the Order of the Phoenix through them. She sent me here to ask you if she can take Fawkes with her though."

McGonagall glanced over at the bird, which was sitting peacefully on its perch. "Of course," she said. "Why don't you go back to her now? I'll contact the rest of the Order and tell them to be here in the morning to say goodbye."

* * *

"Well, folks, I'm off to fight the forces of evil," said Cadance the next morning as everyone congregated in the Great Hall to say goodbye. "Don't wait up."

"Jokes? Really?" asked Sirius, cocking an eyebrow disdainfully.

"Lighten up," said Cadance, giving him a hug, then continuing on down the line. "I'll be back before you guys know it." She reached Harry. "Well, it looks like I finally got out of your training sessions from hell, Harry."

"Yeah, you really pulled one over on me," deadpanned Harry, giving her a hug.

Cadance hugged almost everyone in turn, and then turned to her nieces and nephews. "Molly. James. Make sure you read your Defense Against the Dark Arts books over the summer. My N.E.W.T. class is a real bitch," she said.

"We will, Aunt Cadance," said James as they both hugged her.

"Vivien. Abby. Keep an eye on Cati. I'm the voice of reason in our relationship and without me, she might do something crazy," said Cadance.

"Hey!" exclaimed Cati as Cadance hugged Abby and Vivien.

Cadance reached Fred and Joseph. She got down on one knee so that she was at their level. "Boys," she said very seriously. "You're in charge. Keep everyone in line."

Fred and Joseph both saluted her. She pulled them into a hug.

"Sev," said Cadance turning to Snape. "I know you're not very touchy. So high-five." She held her hand out. Snape sneered and then slapped it.

"Try not to get yourself killed," he said icily. Cadance winked at him.

Cadance now turned to Dumbledore, Merlin, and the three Founders. "Hey, don't go poofing back to wherever it is that you came from while I'm gone," she said.

"We'll try not to go anywhere," said Godric, as she hugged each of them.

"And Uncle Albus, make sure Minerva doesn't clean up my office while I'm gone," she said.

"I can't promise anything," he responded.

Cadance turned to Charlie, Melinda, Bill, and Cati last. "Keep an eye on Charlie for me," she said, hugging Bill.

"I will," he answered.

She turned to Cati next. "Hey…" she began.

"I know," said Cati hugging her. "We'll play Twister when you get back."

"You're going down," said Cadance, winking, and then turning to Melinda.

"Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone," said Cadance, putting two hands on her shoulders.

"Well, I was planning on blowing my life savings in Vegas, but I guess I can put that off until you get back," said Melinda.

Cadance pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. "I love you," she said. "And if you decide the Vegas trip can't wait, take your Aunt Cati. She knows how to count cards."

"I love you, too, Mom," said Melinda.

At last, Cadance turned to Charlie. He grabbed both of her hands. "This isn't goodbye," she said. "It's I'll-see-you-soon."

"I know," he said, brushing a tear from her cheek. He kissed her, then pulled her into a hug and didn't let go for a few seconds. "I love you."

"I love you too," said Cadance.

"Come back to me."

"I promise," she said, locking pinkies with him. He kissed her forehead. Suddenly Fawkes settled on Cadance's shoulder. She took a step backwards. "See you guys soon," she said. Suddenly there was a burst of flames, and when it cleared, Fawkes and Cadance were gone.

"So," said Wyatt, during the tense silence. "Cati can count cards, huh?" Melinda smacked him in the back of his head.

**

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**A/N: PLEASE REVIEW!!!! 100+ hits to the last chapter, and 3 reviews. We're getting better!**


	26. Otherwise Engaged

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as belonging to someone else. J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter & Co.**

**A/N: Thanks to Dizi 85, Whitelighter Enchantress, MiaStar, and Ashie 13 for their reviews!!!!!!!!!!!**

* * *

Upon leaving Hogwarts, Cadance immediately headed towards the Department of Mysteries. The Department of Mysteries differed from the Auroring Department in one key way; it was nearly silent. In the Auror Department everyone bustled around and called to each other, sometimes from across the room. Everyone moved just as quickly in the Department of Mysteries, but it was in silence. It was slightly unsettling.

Cadance went back to Major Brown's office. "Ah, Cadance," he said, standing as she entered. "Would you care for a cup of coffee or tea?"

"Frank, the sooner I get on with this mission, the sooner I can get back to my family," said Cadance, skipping the pleasantries. "Just give me the rundown."

Frank nodded. "I'm sure you're wondering why exactly we picked you and Catalin for this mission," he said.

"That thought had crossed our minds," said Cadance.

"As a matter of fact, you were requested specifically. If both of you would have said no, we would have scrapped it all together," said Brown.

"Why on earth didn't you tell me that before?" asked Cadance.

"I didn't want that to pressure you into accepting it," said Frank.

"That's ridiculous," said Cadance.

"Alright then. I'll give you 20 minutes. Run home and tell Cati that this mission _required_ one or both of you. Are you going to do it?"

"Of course not," said Cadance.

"Why?" asked Brown.

Cadance paused. "Because I don't want to pressure her into accepting it."

"Mmm hmmm," said Brown.

"Who requested us for this mission?" asked Cadance curiously.

"We've been in touch with an _old_ _friend_ of yours," said Brown. "This friend has tipped us off…"

* * *

Voldemort was standing looking out the window and Slytherin was sitting at an antique desk writing on a piece of parchment when Lucius Malfoy walked in.

"My Lords," said Malfoy with a low bow.

"What is it Lucius?" asked Voldemort, without turning around.

"There is a demon that wishes to speak with you," said Malfoy.

"One of ours?" asked Slytherin, looking up.

"No, sir," said Malfoy. "One that wants to join us, I believe."

"Demons are difficult to control," said Slytherin, looking to Voldemort. "It's a miracle we can control the ones we have already."

"My Lord, if I may interrupt," said Malfoy. "The demons we have now are non-humanoid. This one looks very human. It has been my experience that the less like a monster a demon looks, the less like a monster they'll behave when it comes to authority."

Voldemort finally turned around. "It would be unwise to turn away followers," he said. "Send him in."

"Not to correct you, my Lord, but it's actually a _her_," said Malfoy.

"Then send _her_ in."

Malfoy bowed and turned back to the door. He opened it and stood to the side as a young woman walked purposefully into the room, with Bob Reynolds, former Head Auror and turn-coat bastard from this story's prequel and earlier in this story, directly behind.

The woman had long, straight, dark brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing jeans, black boots, and a black tank top. She stood with one hand on her hip. "I take it one of you is Lord Voldemort," she said, her accent thick and foreign.

"I am Lord Voldemort," said Voldemort, his face stony. They both stared each other down in silence.

"Lord Voldemort should not have to ask who you are. You should volunteer the information. Now," said Reynolds.

"My name is Irina," she said. There was another pause, as she and Voldemort looked at each other.

"Have you nothing else to say?" asked Malfoy.

Irina addressed Voldemort. "My mother was a demon. She was vanquished two weeks ago," she said. "She was a leader of demonic faction that she knew was considered to be a threat by your enemy's Order of the Phoenix. She knew someone would be coming after her. She told me that if and when she was vanquished, I was to locate you and join you. She said you can offer me protection from the Order of the Phoenix, and I in turn could offer you my loyalty."

Again there was the silence. This time, Voldemort spoke. "Is that all?" he asked.

"She also told me that I should not speak unless spoken to, for Lord Voldemort does not suffer fools or idle chattiness," she said.

"Your mother was wise then," said Voldemort. "Where are you from? Russia?"

"Romania," said Irina.

"The Order vanquished your mother then?" asked Slytherin.

"Yes," said Irina.

"Tell me, Irina, what could you contribute to our cause?" asked Voldemort.

"Your run-of-the-mill demonic powers," said Irina. "And a desire for revenge against the Order of the Phoenix. We share a common enemy, Lord Voldemort." There was another pause and then Irina continued. "We have a saying in my country. _Un singur dusman e destul sã dãrâme ce au lucrat o mie de prieteni._ It means that one enemy can do more damage than 10 friends. My mother believed the only way to protect herself from her enemies would be to know them as intimately as you would know friends. I can give you insight to the Order of the Phoenix."

"Welcome to the Death Eaters."

* * *

"News from Cadance," said Harry, as he walked into the Order of the Phoenix meeting room holding up a thick parchment envelope. Everyone else was already there, and the room got quiet as he entered. June was fading fast, and Cadance had been gone for more than three weeks.

"Finally," said Charlie, sighing with relief. "What'd she say?"

"Nothing about when she's coming home," said Harry. "But she's sent instructions for the Order. Mostly just a list of demons she wants Cati, Melinda, and Jen to keep their eyes on."

"This is going to cut heavily into the time that I could be spending lying by the lake taking a nap," said Cati.

"Somehow I think you'll survive," said Harry. "Cadance also wanted me to tell you all to be really careful…"

"Hmm… I'm so confused as to what we've been doing up until now," said Sirius with mock thoughtfulness.

Harry dug into the large envelope and pulled out a slightly smaller one. He passed it to Charlie. "Love letter from your wife," Harry said with a wink.

"Oooh, read it out loud!" exclaimed Chris. There was a pause as Charlie stared at him weirdly. "Please allow me to continue dating your daughter." Charlie rolled his eyes and pocketed the letter.

"Is there anything else for this meeting, Harry?" asked Charlie.

"Actually, yes. Two things. One is fairly serious and another is fairly benign, but annoying as hell. Which do you want first?" asked Harry.

"Benign please," said Wendy. "Ease us in."

"There's been an issue with the photocopier in the Auror Department. Someone has been filling it with mayonnaise…"

"Miracle Whip," piped up Cati. There was a pause as everyone turned to stare at her.

"Right," said Harry cocking his eyebrow at her. "I'm going to have to ask you to stop doing that. No… wait… I'm going to have to _order_ you to stop doing that."

"Alright, if you insist," said Cati pleasantly.

"What's the other thing, Harry?" asked Ron.

"Well, as you know, we have informants who report to me to let me know when demon gangs develop new grudges," said Harry.

"Oh, you mean when demons put hits out on us?" asked Cati.

"Yeah, only I was hoping to put it a bit more lightly," said Harry. "Basically, it's a list of people who top demonic hit lists. Cadance and Cati are usually somewhere on the list, as they are well aware. However this week, the list was topped by someone new. Someone else in this room."

There was a pause, and then Hermione said, "Do you want us to guess? Or are you just going to tell us?"

"Melinda," said Harry, turning to look at her. "A demon faction known as The Scorpions has made you a top priority."

"_The Scorpions_?" asked Kala. "Damn, they're some of the toughest demons out there! I get some of them in my bar with the midnight crowd sometimes. Hell, Melinda, what did you do?!"

"Something you'd like to share with the class, Melinda?" asked Cati.

Melinda sighed. "I _might_ have hustled one of them a few nights ago," she said.

"That guy you were playing pool with was a _Scorpion_?!" exclaimed Kala.

"You had to have done more than played pool with them," said Cati.

"I also may have punched one when he refused to give me the money I won," said Melinda.

"Holy hell," muttered Charlie, running a hand through his hair. "Maybe you should move back to Hogwarts where it's safe for a while."

"Dad, calm down," said Melinda. "I'm _safe_ where I am. I live with two strong boys." Charlie threw a dubious glance at Chris and Wyatt, who pretended to look offended.

"And where were those two strong boys while you were hustling demons?" asked Charlie.

"They were… uhhh… singing on the bar."

"How worried about this should we be?" asked Charlie, directing the question at Harry.

"A good bit," said Harry, looking grim.

"Don't worry about it," said Cati.

"A gang of demons is after my daughter. I'm _going_ to worry about it," said Charlie.

"Charlie," said Cati emphatically. "_Don't worry about it_. I'll take control of the situation. Besides, it's my fault anyway. I was the one who taught her how to hustle demons down at Kala's."

"What are you going to do?" asked Charlie.

"Just let me handle this my way. I know how to talk to those demons," said Cati.

"Aunt Cati, _really_, I can handle this myself," said Melinda. "I can't have you saving my ass my whole life. When you and my mom were my age, you two were taking care of yourselves."

"Yeah, and we were a mess," said Cati. "Just let me get this one and you can get the next two."

"Melinda, just let her do it," said Harry with a sigh. "It'll keep her occupied at the very least and give us time to clean the Miracle Whip out of the photocopier."

* * *

Lord Voldemort sat alone in his throne room, drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair, when there came a soft knock on the door. "Come in," he called.

The door opened a crack and Irina's head poked inside the room. "You wished to see me, my Lord?" she asked.

"Yes, close the door," he said. She fully entered and closed the door behind her. She strode across the room and knelt, bowing her head.

Voldemort stood up and indicated that she should stand, too. "Is there something I can do for you, Lord Voldemort?" she asked as she got to her feet.

Voldemort strolled to the window and looked out, his back to Irina. It was a few seconds before he answered. "First, my sources tell me that Cadance Dumbledore has been away from Hogwarts for the past three weeks," he said.

"Weasley," corrected Irina. Voldemort turned around and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Her last name is Weasley. She got married."

"Old habits die hard," said Voldemort, giving her a look that told her plainly to never correct him again. "What do you make of this?"

Irina paused and looked contemplative. "She's the only one away from Hogwarts?" she asked.

"As far as we know, it's only Cadance," said Voldemort.

"She's probably making a move against you," said Irina. "Would you like me to go out and discover what I can?"

"Not now. I've got in under control. I'm not concerned about it," said Voldemort dismissively, turning back to the window. "When Catalin Nuperson and Cadance Dumbledore are together… that's when I worry."

"They're strongest together," agreed Irina.

"No… they're more _annoying_ together," countered Voldemort. "But that's not what concerns me now. My ancestor Lord Slytherin is obsessed with Cadance."

"He's obsessed with Katherine," said Irina.

Voldemort turned back to Irina and sneered. "So you _have_ done your homework. Very good," he said, taking a few steps forward. "Yes. Cadance's past life is the wife of my ancestor. He wants his wife back. It's an obsession. He needs Cadance to get her back, because the only way to get her back is to call her soul into Cadance's body. He's nervous and edgy now that she's off our radar."

"And your certain you're not concerned about her whereabouts then, my Lord?" asked Irina.

"I'm certain. I had anticipated this obsession with Cadance after her told me who she was. I was prepared for it. What I had not anticipated was that my enemies would bring back Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff to counter me. I did not anticipate his growing obsession with _them_."

Irina's interest was immediately sparked. "Lord Slytherin wants them dead?" she asked.

"No, quite the opposite," said Voldemort. "He demands that I ensure their safety. I'm afraid Salazar's loyalty to his former friends may exceed his loyalty to our cause if he thinks too hard about it."

"Loyalty to his friends?" asked Irina. "Unless I am much mistaken, Salazar Slytherin built a hidden chamber beneath Hogwarts, abandoned his friends, and then returned later to murder Godric Gryffindor."

Slytherin cocked his eyebrow at her. "You speak as if you do not think so highly of my ancestor," he said.

Irina bowed her head. "I did not mean it, my Lord. What do you plan to do?"

"I plan to remove the distraction," said Voldemort.

"If you kill them, Lord Slytherin will not be happy," said Irina.

"No, he wouldn't," said Voldemort. "That's why I don't want them killed. I want them brought here."

"That would be no easy task," said Irina.

"No, it wouldn't. I think the summer would be the best time to try to get them," said Voldemort. "During the summer, there is less protection around Hogwarts and it would be easier to get in and kidnap them."

Irina looked contemplative for a moment. "No. That's no good," she said, shaking her head.

Voldemort cocked an eyebrow. "No?"

"No," said Irina. "Harry Potter has less Aurors on duty, but there are still plenty of Aurors on call—many of them in Hogsmeade. They can be at Hogwarts very quickly. They would not hesitate to raise the castle to the ground to keep you from getting away. During the school year, however, it's a different story. They won't risk the lives of the students. The Aurors will be more cautious. You'll have a chance to get in and out."

Voldemort peered down at her. "You're suggesting I use the students as a shield?"

"Harry Potter will call off the Aurors to save the students. Minerva McGonagall will do anything to protect those students. Even Cadance and Cati will stand down to save the students," said Irina. "They are the future of the Wizarding World."

Voldemort paused before replying. "I called you here because I wanted you to go with whoever I decided to send to kidnap Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, and Hufflepuff. It was going to be your way to prove your loyalty to me. All my Death Eaters have to do it."

"Of course," said Irina with a nod.

"However, you bring up a valid point," said Voldemort. "I want you to help lead this little expedition… in September."

"Thank you, my Lord," said Irina, bowing her head.

"Until that time, you'll have to keep your eyes open for another way to show your loyalty to me," said Voldemort.

"If I may be so bold to suggest something, Lord Voldemort?" asked Irina.

"You may," said Voldemort.

"If I were in your position, I would be more concerned about where Cadance Weasley is. You don't know what she's doing. I could go out and try to pick up a trail," said Irina.

"That won't be necessary," said Voldemort. "I have something set in motion and if all goes as planned, she'll be back at Hogwarts soon enough."

"May I inquire as to what plans you have set in motion?" asked Irina.

"You may not."

* * *

Knockturn Alley had a few pubs, but most demons preferred the Bloated Toad. The bartender didn't ask questions and didn't take much notice of anyone, which was particularly helpful if the Ministry was looking for you. Also the tables were spaced far enough apart to provide the patrons with a bit of privacy, which was helpful if you were planning something you didn't want overheard.

And usually things were pretty calm. But not tonight.

A demon flew over the bar, hitting the wall behind it. The bartender didn't seem to notice and continued to serve costumers, who were likewise ignoring the disturbance.

Cati, however, had things under control. The demon got to his feet and climbed back over the bar and made a move to attack. Before he could even conjure a fireball, Cati grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back, then slammed his head off of the bar. Then she pulled him back up and shoved him into the wall, and held him there, with one arm still twisted behind his back.

"What's the matter with you, lady?!" exclaimed the demon. "You have no idea who you're dealing with!"

"Trust me, pal, it's _you_ who don't know who _you're_ dealing with," hissed Cati. "I'm Major Catalin Weasley. Melinda Weasley is my niece."

"Do you want a medal or something…?" began the demon.

"Shutup!" spat Cati. He roughly turned him around so he was facing her. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt and held tight. "Look at my face. Memorize it. If you or anyone else even _attempts_ to carry out the hit on Melinda Weasley, my face is the last sight that you'll ever see. I assure you of that. Do you understand?"

"You're digging your own grave," hissed the demon.

Cati patted the side of his face twice. "Call off the rest of the Scorpions or I'll kill you. Go on." She let go and stepped back. The demon looked like he was thinking about attacking her for a second, but then he straightened his clothes and slunk away. Cati watched him all the way to the door. Right as he was about to open it, he felt something wiz by his head. A knife stuck into the door, inches from his head. He turned around to glance back at Cati, who winked at him. The demon opened the door and hurried out. Cati turned to the bartender, who wasn't making eye contact.

"I'll leave that there as my calling card," she said. "It'd be in your best interest to make sure the other Scorpions get the message as well." She turned on her heel and disapparated out on the spot.

Cati Apparated right outside of Tipsy's Tavern, and entered. Kala was tending bar. Charlie, Bill, Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione were all inside sitting at the bar.

"T.G.I.F., eh Cate?" said Bill, raising his mug.

"I've got to be up at 8:00 for training," countered Cati, sending a glare at Harry.

"We had an agreement when I gave you my blessing to challenging the students to a Quidditch match that you would never complain about training again," said Harry.

"No, we had an agreement that we would never tie you to the Quidditch post again," corrected Cati, sitting down next to her husband. "Hey, Charlie, I took care of that thing we talked about."

"You cleaned the mayonnaise out of the photocopiers?" asked Charlie.

"First of all, it was Miracle Whip. And second of all, _uhhh no_," said Cati. "No, I'm talking about the demon problem."

"You mean about the Scorpions?" asked Charlie. "What'd you do?"

"Don't worry about it," said Cati.

"Did you do something incredibly stupid?" asked Bill.

"When was the last time I did something _incredibly_ stupid?" asked Cati. Harry opened his mouth to answer, but Cati cut him off. "Don't answer that."

Just then the door to the bar opened and Chris and Melina walked in, arm-in-arm and laughing. "Oh, hello," said Chris when he noticed them.

"What in the hell are you two so laugh-y about?" asked Ron.

"Nothing," said Melinda, shaking her head but still smiling.

Harry looked them up and down. "Are you drunk?"

"No, they're _engaged_," said Cati rolling her eyes and taking a drink of Bill's beer.

"What!?" shrieked Ginny and Hermione at the same time. Charlie began choking on his drink.

"How do you do that?" asked Melinda cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Hey, Kala, can you bring me a rum?" asked Cati.

"An enigma," said Chris, shaking his head. "A bloody enigma."

"Yeah, maybe that," said Cati. "Or maybe I noticed the _ring_."

They all glanced down at Melinda's finger. "Oh," she said.

"So it's true then?" asked Charlie. "You two are… engaged?"

"Yes," said Melinda, smiling broadly. Charlie didn't respond. "Daddy?"

Charlie snapped out of it. "Sorry, I'm just surprised!" he exclaimed. "Congratulations!" He pulled Melinda into a big hug.

"Drinks on the father of the bride!" exclaimed Cati, with a wink.

Suddenly, a jet of light hit the bar right near them. The force of the spell blew a hole right through it. Kala jumped over the bar with the reflexes of a bartender who was used to bar fights. Everyone looked around for the source as they drew their wands. The other customers were popping out left and right to avoid whatever was about to go down. In the commotion it was hard to determine where the spell had come from.

"It's those goddamn Scorpions," said Cati angrily, looking around.

"No," said Harry. "Demons don't fire spells." Suddenly, enough of the crowd had departed that a black-cloaked figure was clearly visible. He was wearing a mask. "Death Eaters do."

"Just one?" asked Cati, reaching for her bottle of rum. "Alright, Harry, as Head Auror he's all yours."

The words were barely out of her mouth when a few of the remaining demons turned to face them, arming themselves. "Oh," said Cati, putting down the bottle. "Well that changes things."

Wordlessly, the Death Eater shot another spell. Though Charlie tried to block it, it hit him square in the chest and he went flying over the bar.

"Dad!" exclaimed Melinda, turning towards him, leaving her back exposed. A demon fired an energy ball at her. Chris grabbed her and pulled her to the floor. She tried to lift her head up, but he pushed it down, just as debris from the bar fell on them after the energy ball hit it.

Ginny and Hermione hopped behind the bar to get to Charlie, as Ron, Harry, Kala, Cati, and Bill began firing spells.

"Is he okay?" called Bill over his shoulder, as he dodged a spell. Before Hermione or Ginny could answer, the Death Eater turned on his heel and disapparated. The demons followed suit.

"What the hell was that?!" exclaimed Cati in confusion. "That was the sorriest excuse for a..." Cati trailed off and shook her head.

"Dad?" said Melinda tentatively, as Chris helped her to her feet. She looked over the bar. He wasn't moving. Hermione and Ginny were kneeling next to him.

Hermione shook her head. "He's unconscious," she said.

"Is he going to be okay?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"I don't know," said Hermione honestly. "Let's get him out of here..."

* * *

"Why tonight?" wondered Melinda aloud as she sat outside of the hospital wing with most of the rest of the Order of the Phoenix. Bill, Cati, Molly, Arthur and Dumbledore were inside with Madame Pomfrey, who was working on Charlie. Snape was brewing a potion and couldn't be pulled from the dungeons. Arabella and Mundungus were on duty in Hogsmeade. James, Molly, Vivien, Abby, Fred, and Joseph were all in the Gryffindor Common Room with Merlin, so Godric's Hollow was empty and McGonagall, Moody, and Remus were pulled off of duty there for the time being.

"Why tonight?" repeated Melinda.

"Why not?" deadpanned Sirius with a shrug. "Tonight. Tomorrow night. It doesn't matter to Voldemort, so why should it matter to us?"

"They got engaged tonight, Sirius," said Ginny flatly. "That's why it matters."

"Voldemort got engaged?" asked Sirius with a cocked eyebrow.

"No. Melinda and Chris," said Ron.

Everyone turned and looked at Melinda and Chris. Melinda had her head resting on Chris's shoulder and he was holding her hand.

"Quite the engagement present," said Remus sarcastically.

"He wasn't aiming to kill him," said Melinda, staring at the floor. She was answered with silence. "They didn't even put up a fight. The Death Eater wasn't aiming to kill. The demons were just tagging along."

The door opened and Cati slipped out. "Well, my input isn't required in there," said Cati. "And I was kindly asked to leave."

"I can't imagine why," said Harry sarcastically.

"How is he?" asked Melinda, looking up at her Aunt, but not getting off the floor.

"He's going to be fine. He's sleeping," said Cati. "You can go in now. Everyone else will have to wait until tomorrow. Madame Pomfrey insists."

"Can Chris come with me?" asked Melinda. Cati nodded and stood aside so they could enter.

"Why doesn't everyone spend the night here?" suggested McGonagall.

"Do you think that's necessary?" asked Jen.

"I'm not sure," said McGonagall, shaking her head. "But the Gryffindor Common Room is open, and I'll sleep better tonight knowing everyone's under one roof." Nobody responded. "And I'll have the House Elves make pancakes for breakfast."

There was a pause, and then Sirius said, "You've got me convinced."

"Me too," said George. Everyone else began murmuring in agreement as they got up and headed down the hallway. McGonagall and Cati exchanged a look.

"They _do_ love pancakes."

* * *

About two hours later, Cati was still outside of the Hospital Wing. Bill had come out and joined her shortly after everyone else dispersed. They were sitting down, with their backs against the wall when Harry joined them.

"Couldn't sleep?" asked Bill, as Harry sat down.

"No," said Harry, shaking his head. "The little ones are in bed in one of the dormitories, but everyone else is sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room. They're drifting off a little, but they're awake."

"Having a little party, I see," said a voice from somewhere to their right. They looked over and saw Dumbledore and McGonagall approaching. Cati, Bill, and Harry all stood.

"Yeah, did you bring the keg?" asked Cati.

"Good to see your sense of humor hasn't left you," said McGonagall.

"I keep it in my pocket," said Cati flatly.

"Well, I know you all have been doing the exact same thing we have; talking about what happened," said McGonagall. "What have you come up with?"

"We still haven't the slightest idea what that spell was," said Cati. "We figure the Death Eater wasn't trying to kill him… or any of us for that matter."

"That's what Melinda said earlier," said Harry. "What were they trying to do then?"

"I've got an idea," said Cati. She paused, and they waited patiently. "I'm sure Voldemort's found out that Cadance is gone by now. He might know she's on an official mission but he might not. Either way, I'd be pretty worried if I were him."

"Can you think of a better way to distract her from whatever it is she's doing?" asked Bill.

"You think he's trying to draw her out?" asked McGonagall.

"Yes, he is, and it worked," said a familiar and entirely welcomed voice. They looked to their left and saw Cadance hurrying up to them. Her traveling cloak was still on, her hair was in a messy ponytail, and she looked incredibly worried.

"You're back?" asked Cati.

"No," said Cadance. "What happened?"

"He's going to be okay," said Dumbledore. "He's asleep now."

Cadance reached for the door knob. "Wait, are you back or …" began Cati.

"We'll talk in the morning," said Cadance firmly. Cati nodded.

It was mostly dark when Cadance entered. What little light there was came from the moon. Melinda and Chris were curled up on a couch against the wall near Charlie's bed. Cadance sat in one of the chairs next to the bed, which had been vacated by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley when they left to go to the Gryffindor Common room with the rest.

Cadance reached out and grabbed Charlie's hand, and he stirred. "Melinda?" he murmured.

"Nah," responded Cadance. "She's much prettier than me. Just like her daddy."

A smile crossed Charlie's face as he opened his eyes. "Liar. She's the spitting image of her mother."

"I should have been here," said Cadance, shaking her head.

"Hey," said Charlie. "It wouldn't have made a difference. Don't you dare blame yourself. _I'm fine_."

"Voldemort struck to draw me out," said Cadance. "It's my fault."

"Are you in danger here?" asked Charlie, a look of worry crossing his face.

"No more so than anywhere else at any other time," said Cadance. "He was just trying to figure out what I was doing."

"Is he going to be able to do that?" asked Charlie.

"Not a chance," said Cadance, cracking a smile and shaking her head. "You should probably get some rest, or Madame Pomfrey will have my head."

Charlie scooted over so Cadance could lie down with him. She tucked her head under his chin and he stroked her hair.

"Are you back for good?" he asked.

"I don't know," said Cadance with a sigh.

"Hey, guess what," said Charlie. "Our daughter is engaged."

Cadance paused, and then groaned. "I hate it when Cati's in wedding-mode."

* * *

The sun was barely out the next morning when Cati came bouncing into the Hospital Wing. "Good morning!" she exclaimed.

Cadance and Charlie were sleeping in Charlie's hospital bed. They didn't stir. Melinda and Chris, tangled together on the couch, both sat with a sudden jolt. Chris slid off the couch.

"Geez, Cati," he said, getting up. "It's early as hell."

"Why are you so _loud_?" asked Melinda rubbing her head. Then she noticed her mother. "Hey!" she exclaimed, pointing at the bed, where neither of her parents had moved yet. "When… what… how…. Huh?"

"I know!" exclaimed Cati. "The woman's been gone for nearly a month and she's _sleeping_. WAKE UP!"

"Charlie, your friend is calling you," said Cadance, unmoving and with her eyes still closed, giving the first indication that they were awake.

"Shhhhhhh…" said Charlie, also without opening his eyes, pulling her closer. "If we're quiet, maybe she'll go away."

"Yeah, right, like I'm _actually_ just going to go away," said Cati sarcastically. "Use your head!"

Cadance groaned and rolled over. She sat up. Charlie pulled the covers over his head. Melinda came over and hugged her mom. "So are you _back_ or what?" asked Melinda.

"Or what," said Cadance. "I'll have to leave again soon."

"When?" asked Chris.

"Probably as soon as Frank Brown realizes that I'm gone," answered Cadance. She looked at Melinda and Chris. "So I hear we've got a wedding to start planning."

"Well, yes," said Melinda. "But when will you be done with this mission? Am I going to have to do this without you?"

"It depends, honey," said Cadance. "It depends on when you'll be getting married, how much planning we're going to have to do and how far in advance we have to do it, _where_ you're getting married… all that stuff. I should be home before summer ends, but who knows…"

"Wait, you might not be home before school starts?" interrupted Cati.

"Before you left, you said that you were going to be home before school starts," said Charlie.

"I thought that before, but now we're not so sure," said Cadance, shaking her head.

"Does Minerva know this yet?" asked Cati.

"No," said Cadance.

"Can I please be there when you tell her?" asked Cati.

"So you may or may not be home in a couple of months?" asked Melinda slowly.

"I know. I'm sorry," said Cadance, giving her a weak smile.

"Don't worry, your dad will be here to help you plan the wedding and so will I," said Cati, perkily.

"Sweet Merlin, save you," muttered Cadance under her breathe.

"What was that?" asked Cati.

"I said let's go get some breakfast," said Cadance.

"Yeah, they've got pancakes!" exclaimed Cati, hopping up. "Come on, everyone's waiting in the Great Hall!" She skipped out of the Hospital Wing.

Cadance and Charlie waited in the Hospital Wing for a few more minutes for Madame Pomfrey to clear Charlie. Melinda and Chris left the Hospital Wing about a minute after Cati.

However, before they reached the Great Hall, Melinda stopped Chris right in the middle of the hallway by grabbing his sleeve. "What is it?" he asked, holding her arm.

"Let's get out of here," said Melinda.

"What? Why? Your mom might be leaving soon; don't you want to spend some more time…"

"Let's go get married," interrupted Melinda.

"What?!" asked Chris. "Right now?"

"Yes, _right now_," said Melinda. "You and I both said we would rather get married _sooner_ rather than later. We don't want to spend a year-and-a-half planning this wedding. We just want to be_ married_. And I have no idea when my mom is going to be coming home so that she can see it. So we might as well just go!"

Chris stared at her incredulously for a second then broke out into a grin. "Okay. Let's go," he said. He grabbed her hand. In the Entrance Hall, they went out the big oak doors, rather than turn into the Great Hall. The descended the stone steps and were about to start down the path towards Hogsmeade when suddenly, they were tackled to the ground.

The struggled in confusion for a few seconds, and then they realized that Cati was on the floor with them. "Aunt Cati! What the hell?!" exclaimed Melinda as they pulled themselves to their feet.

"You two are _not_ eloping!" exclaimed Cati.

Melinda and Chris gaped at her. "How did you know?!" exclaimed Chris.

"I know EVERYTHING!" exclaimed Cati.

"Listen, Aunt Cati," said Melinda. "Just let us do this! We don't want to wait for a long time and we're not sure when mom is going to be back from this mission!"

"If you two think this wedding is about you, you've got another thing coming," said Cati. "Now get your asses to the Great Hall." She ushered them in front of her back into the castle and into the Great Hall.

The entire Order of the Phoenix and all the Weasley grandchildren were eating breakfast, including Cadance and Charlie who had just arrived. "Look who I found trying to elope," said Cati as they all took their seats.

Melinda, who sat down next to her mom, rolled her eyes. Cadance leaned in and whispered, "If I were in your shoes and I had just been told that Charlie and Cati were about to help me plan a wedding, I would have tried to elope, too."

"You two can't elope!" exclaimed Jen. "You know we all love weddings!"

"And don't deprive me of the opportunity to help plan it!" exclaimed Cati. "Sirius and Wendy won't let me help plan _theirs_!"

"I just like it how I like it," said Wendy matter-of-factly.

"Me too, but I'm not talking about wedding plans," said Sirius with a wink.

"Eww!" exclaimed Abby, as Jen threw a piece of toast at Sirius.

"What?! She doesn't know what I'm talking about! She's 9!" exclaimed Sirius defensively.

"She obviously has some idea, Sirius!" exclaimed Jen.

"Well, where do you think she got that from then?" asked Sirius.

"You," said Remus with a snort.

"What?! I am incredibly well-behaved and couth when around the younger children!" argued Sirius.

"Oh, please!" exclaimed Cadance. "When Cati and I were young and you were our baby-sitter, you used to try to use us to pick up dates!"

"You didn't!" exclaimed Jen, incredulously. "That couldn't possibly work, could it?"

"Cute children draw women like a moth to a flame," said Sirius confidently.

Wyatt leaned in and said, "Can I borrow Joseph and Fred?" He looked over at them. They were flicking dry cereal at each other.

"No," said Hermione as she and Jen glared at him.

"Oh, come on!" exclaimed Wyatt. "You guys won't let me have any fun! You won't let me take Cati to Vegas to play poker… Chris and Melinda won't let me jump on the furniture… Kala won't let me stand on the pool table at her bar… and now I'm not allowed to use your children to pick up women!"

"Yeah, we're all real mean," deadpanned Ron, taking a bite of pancakes.


	27. Making the Most of the Summer

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as someone else's

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW

* * *

After they were done with breakfast, Cadance sent Molly and James up to the Gryffindor Common Room with Vivien, Abby, Fred, and Joseph, so the Order of the Phoenix could have a quick meeting. They had it in the Great Hall as Cati, like a true champ, was still shoveling in pancakes like it was her job.

"We don't have much time," said Cadance. "I've got to be getting back. If I'm back before Frank Brown realizes I'm gone, I can avoid a long lecture."

"You're a bit too late for that," said a voice from the doorway. Of course, Frank Brown was standing there, because that's how shit works in this story. He was flanked by four Aurors. "Are you absolutely insane?"

"Not _absolutely_," said Cadance.

"We've come to take you back to your post," said Brown.

Cadance tilted her head to look at the four Aurors he brought. "Aw, how cute. You're trying to intimidate me to get me to come back now," she said cracking a smile. "Look, he brought some Aurors as if to say 'If you don't come voluntarily, we'll make you'."

"That _is_ cute," commented Bill.

"You have _got_ to finish what you've started," said Frank.

"Listen, Frankie," said Cadance. "You can't ask me to do what I'm doing for you and then not give me a little bit of leeway when it comes to doing it my own way. I haven't seen these people—my family—in a month. I will come when I'm good and ready."

"There's no _time_," insisted Frank, shaking his head. The Aurors began to inch closer.

"There's always time for pancakes, Frank," said Cadance. "And if you _do_ insist on trying to force me in, keep in mind that you may have four Aurors, but I have _Cati_." The Aurors stopped dead, and glanced at each other, then looked at Cati, who was still eating pancakes. "They do _not_ want to go up against the two of us, okay?"

"As it turns out, she also has the Head Auror," said Harry, getting to his feet. "And I can just order you all to not lay a finger on her."

"My way would have been more fun," said Cadance. "So sit down and have some pancakes, Frank. And don't worry so much. It's under control."

Frank rolled his eyes. "One hour," he said, before turning and walking out. The four Aurors exchanged a look. One of them raised his hand and did a kind of half-wave before they all followed him out.

"Aw, I think those four Aurors really wanted to stay for pancakes," said Jen.

"Who wouldn't?" asked Cati.

"Frank, apparently," pointed out Ron.

"Let's get down to business," said Harry, sitting back down.

"So serious all the time," said Sirius dismissively. "You act as though we're in the middle of a war or something."

"We _are_ in the middle of a war," said Cadance. "And, unfortunately, it has become increasingly obvious that Voldemort and ourselves are involved in two very different wars."

"Have we been fighting someone besides Voldemort?" asked Mundungus. "Geez, I have _got_ to start staying awake during these meetings."

"No, Mundungus," said Cadance. "That's not what I meant. It's like we're playing the same game with two separate sets of rules."

"I'm not so good with the metaphors," said Ron.

"It's like when we play cards with Fred and Joseph and we have to play by the real rules, but they get to play whatever they want," said Cadance.

"Metaphor!" exclaimed Ron.

"We've got no strategy and no tactics, right?" asked Cadance. "Well, that's because we don't know how to _hit_ Voldemort. Meanwhile, he knows _exactly_ how to hurt us _and_ he's been doing it effectively. He knows our weakness."

"Our intense love of pancakes?" asked Wyatt.

"Yeahhhhhh," said Cati, with her mouth full.

"No, our intense love of _each other_," said Cadance, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, that too," said Cati.

"He's been able to hit us where it hurts us the most," said Cadance. "Our compassion for each other allows him to wage a psychological war on us. Unfortunately, we have no way to hit him in a similar manner. He cares for no one."

"I'm afraid Lord Voldemort has the upper hand," said Arthur.

"We are damned by our own ability to love," said Jen.

"You don't believe that," said Dumbledore, looking at his niece. It wasn't a question.

"You try being married to George," said Jen, winking.

"Excuse me, I'm incredibly loveable," said George. "Just ask my mother." Everyone looked down the table at Molly.

"Mmm hmmm, incredibly loveable, dear," said Molly indulgently.

"Sorcerer powers are enhanced by emotion," said Dumbledore. "Cadance, Jen, Melinda, Cati, and Minerva's ability to love will make their powers stronger. Voldemort, who cannot bring himself to love, will not have that advantage when it comes to his Sorcerer powers."

"But he's still powerful," said Harry.

"True," conceded Dumbledore.

"What _do_ we have?" asked Bill.

"We've got us," said Cati.

"Voldemort knows how to manipulate us," said Bill.

"Okay, we've got an army of Aurors," said Harry.

"Voldemort has an army of Death Eaters," pointed out Moody.

"We've got two part-White Lighters with additional powers from their incredibly powerful mother's side of the family," said Jen, pointing at Chris and Wyatt.

"Voldemort's got Dark Lighters and demons," said Cadance.

"We've got to have _something_ that Voldemort can't match," insisted Hermione.

"We've got Harry," said Cadance, simply. There was silence as everyone looked around at each other, nodding in assent.

"And pancakes!" added Cati emphatically.

"Glad to see your spirits are up," said Cadance. "One more thing before I leave. I would feel more secure knowing that you all were tucked into the castle for the rest of the summer."

"You mean, leave Godric's Hollow?" asked Jen.

"Just for the summer," said Cadance. "We've done it before. The last time."

"I think it's a good idea," said Arthur, nodding.

"And don't let the kids go wandering around the castle, either. Keep them in the Gryffindor Common Room," said Cadance. "They _are_ our greatest weaknesses, and Voldemort knows that. Keep them under close supervision to be sure they're safe."

"James and Molly are _not_ going to like this," said Harry running a hand through his hair.

"They're the two that you need to keep your eyes on the most," said Cadance.

"It's true, you know. They're a recipe for trouble," said Cati. "First you've got _James_ who is basically exactly like Harry was at age 17. Then you've got Molly, who is a bizarre mix of Hermione and Ron. She's got Hermione's cleverness and Ron's knack for breaking the rules. _And_ they're restless. They could potentially do something stupid."

"You don't think they really _would_ do something stupid, do you?" asked Hermione.

"Think back to your final year of Hogwarts. Imagine you, Harry, and Ron hadn't been allowed to help at all with fighting Lord Voldemort. Imagine we had kept you in the dark about everything," said Cadance. There was a pause as Hermione, Ron, and Harry stared into the ceiling for a second, imagining. Then, collectively, they grimaced.

"Yeah, they're going to do something stupid," said Ron, nodding. "Who has to tell them they're under house-arrest?"

"I vote for Cadance. Who agrees?" asked Harry, throwing his hand into the air. Everyone else put their hands up as well.

"Hey, that's not fair!" exclaimed Cadance. Everyone gave her a look that said that they didn't care. Cadance sighed. "They're in the Gryffindor Common Room right now?"

* * *

"You can't do that!" exclaimed James. As Harry predicted, he was not taking the news well.

"You'll find that I can do nearly anything I want," said Cadance using her Deputy Headmistress voice, peering at him over her half-moon spectacles. It would have been much more effective if he wasn't a whole head taller than her. Molly and James were on their feet at the announcement that they would spend the entire summer confined to Gryffindor Tower for most of the day. Vivien, Abby, Joseph, and Fred all stayed seated on the couch. Cadance faced them alone.

"Aunt Cadance, that's ludicrous," said Molly in her 'be reasonable' voice, much reminiscent of Hermione.

"It is _imperative_ that all of you remain safe," said Cadance, turning to her.

"You're not putting Melinda on house arrest!" exclaimed Harry.

"Melinda is a trained Auror," said Cadance.

"We're of age!" exclaimed James, indicating to himself and Molly. "You can't tell us what to do!"

"Until you've completed your training here at Hogwarts, you are _not_ fully-qualified witches and wizards and I _can_ tell you what to do," said Cadance.

"My dad faced Voldemort when he wasn't a fully-qualified wizard!" argued James. "You let Aunt Hermione and Uncle Ron and Aunt Jen all tag along and they weren't fully-qualified witches and wizards!"

"That was _different_," said Cadance. "First of all, I wasn't _in charge_ of the Order. And second of all, I've become more uptight over the years. Deal with it."

"Now you're just spouting off bullshit," said James, rolling his eyes.

"Watch your tone of voice with me, young man," said Cadance, narrowing her eyes at him. "Alright, how about this… I'll stop telling the two of you what to do when you can _make me_ stop." James made a rather bold move for his wand, but Cadance, expecting it, had already pulled hers. She flicked it casually and James's wand flew into her outstretched palm. She flicked it again and James flew backwards into the arm chair, where he landed, seated, with a dull thud. "_Really_, James, I fight Death Eaters," she said, handing him back his wand.

"You're going to have to do what she says forever," said Abby, shaking her head.

"We want to _help_," argued Molly. "We're not too young!"

"Unfortunately for you, I think otherwise," said Cadance.

"Does this mean we can't go outside and play?" asked Fred, sticking out his bottom lip in a pout. Joseph copied him.

Cadance sighed and got down on one knee in front of the couch to look her youngest nephews in the eye. She abandoned her Deputy Headmistress tone and adopted her Aunt Cadance one. "If enough people are around to protect you in case of an attack, you can go outside. But I'm afraid with everyone working all day… it'll be tough."

"But we can't run around in here like we can outside," whined Joseph. "It will make Headmistress McGonagall look cross at us."

"I know, it's a scary look," conceded Cadance. "But can you be big boys and make the best of it?"

They both nodded, without wiping the pout off of their face. "We'll try," said Fred.

"Good," said Cadance. "Then maybe you can show James how to be a big boy, too."

"Ha ha," said James dryly.

"Vivien. Abby. Alright?" she asked.

"Whatever," said Vivien, folding her arms across her chest. Abby looked back and forth between her three older cousins then shrugged.

"Alright," said Cadance, straightening up, her tone changing again. "I have to go now."

"Where are you going, Aunt Cadance?" asked James, not ready to let go of the argument.

"You know I can't tell you that," said Cadance, turning to go. "Behave yourselves while I'm gone."

"Where are you going?" he repeated. She stopped just short of the door and turned back around and looked at him. "You don't tell us anything. None of you do! You can't expect us to be okay with being locked up in Gryffindor Tower when you don't let us in on anything!"

"We're trying to protect you!" argued Cadance. "Can't you see that?"

"A few weeks ago, you told us that we would never know where we're going if we don't know where we came from," said Molly. "How are we supposed to know where we're coming from if none of you tell us anything?"

The questions came faster than Cadance could answer them.

"How did Voldemort come back six years ago?" asked James.

"How did you vanquish him the last time and why didn't it work?" asked Molly.

"How are you going to vanquish him this time?" chimed in Vivien.

"What are Death Eaters?" added Joseph innocently.

"What do they want?" asked Fred.

"Can Aurors kill people?" asked Abby.

"Enough," said Cadance with an air of finality, shaking her head.

"Where are you _going_?" repeated James.

"Don't ask questions you're not ready to hear the answers to," said Cadance. Silence followed her statement. Cadance turned on her heel and exited the portrait hole without another word.

* * *

The rest of the Order of the Phoenix was still waiting in the Great Hall when Cadance returned. "Those are six angry children, and they're asking questions," answered Cadance.

"Questions?" asked Harry. "What kind of questions?"

"Joseph and Freddy want to know what Death Eaters are and what they want. The questions increase in difficulty with the age of the questioner," said Cadance. "You're going to have your hands full with Molly and James. They're arguing that they're of age and they shouldn't have to listen to us if we aren't straight with them."

"Oh geez," said Harry, running his hand through his hair.

"Well, good luck with that," said Cadance, grabbing her cloak off of the back of a chair.

"You're leaving now?" asked Cati.

"I've got to," said Cadance, moving towards Charlie. She kissed him. "I'll be in touch soon."

"Stay safe," said Charlie, grabbing her shoulders.

"You, too," said Cadance. She turned to Melinda. "I don't want you to worry about your wedding."

"I want you to be there," said Melinda. "But we want it to be soon."

"Just pick a day. Wild horses couldn't keep me away," said Cadance.

"A month," said Melinda. "No longer."

"Yes! I work GREAT under pressure!" exclaimed Cati. "I've got so many ideas…"

Cadance pulled Melinda into a hug. "If your Aunt Cati gets too out of control with this wedding stuff, tell your Uncle Bill and he'll distract her with a cookie," she whispered in her ear.

"Good call," returned Melinda.

"Good luck with the kids," said Cadance. Suddenly Fawkes appeared in a burst of flames. He swooped down and landed on Cadance shoulder. "Don't let Sirius near them unattended. He'll crack like a walnut and answer all their questions." And with that, Cadance and Fawkes disappeared in another burst of flames.

* * *

Sitting around the Gryffindor Common Room, the six youngsters were quite despondent.

"This is going to be the worst summer ever," complained Vivien.

"Come on now," said Molly. "We're all in this together and we can make the most of it."

"Okay, Mary Sunshine," said James, rolling his eyes.

"We can't play in here," whined Joseph.

"We should be _helping_ them," said James, getting to his feet and pacing the floor. "We _can_ help."

"_I_ know that," said a voice from the Portrait Hole. They turned to see Melinda climbing through. The portrait closed behind her.

"What are you doing here?" asked Molly.

"Can't a girl come see her younger cousins without having a reason?" asked Melinda, squeezing onto the couch in between Joseph and Fred.

"No," said James flatly.

"Well, everyone downstairs voted and we decided that we shouldn't leave you up here all by your lonesome," said Melinda. "You'll be having… chaperones. I got the first shift, because I've got the morning off."

"Chaperones?" asked James. "Merlin's beard, we're not children!"

"Yeah!" spoke up Fred. Melinda looked at James pointedly.

"You know what I meant," said James, rolling his eyes. "Melinda, this is driving us nuts. Nobody will tell us anything, but then they expect us to just _sit here_. And now we've got a babysitter."

"We're just trying to protect you," said Melinda, shaking her head.

"Oh, come on, you're _two years_ older than me and Molly," said James dismissively.

"Look, have you ever stopped to think that maybe this is hard for them?" asked Melinda testily.

"What?" asked James.

"They're _afraid_, James," said Melinda. "They don't know how to fight Voldemort! Can't you see that? They're doing what they can to make themselves feel like they're not completely _failing_ and right now the best they can come up with is locking you in the Gryffindor Common Room! You shouldn't be _complaining_. You should be _lamenting_. They're hurting."

There was silence for a few seconds then Joseph asked with a pathetic look on his face, "Mommy and Daddy and everybody are hurt?"

Melinda looked down at him, immediately regretting her word choice. "Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that," she said putting her arm around him. "They're just scared."

"Scared of what?" asked Abby.

"They're scared you might get hurt," said Melinda.

"Why would someone hurt us?" asked Fred.

James, Molly, and Vivien, who all had a better grasp on the concepts of good and evil, exchanged a look as Abby, Fred, and Joseph all gazed expectantly up at Melinda. "Well," she began, choosing her words carefully. "There are some bad people in the world."

"Like Lord Voldemort?" asked Fred. Melinda nodded. "Why is he so mean?"

Melinda shook her head. "No more questions," said Melinda. "I don't have any answers, and I'm not supposed to give you them anyway."

"To protect us?" asked Molly.

"To protect you," said Melinda with a nod.

"So what happens next?" asked James.

"You make the most of the summer," said Melinda.

"And after?"

"I hope you'll have your homework done, or else my mom will fry you."

* * *

Irina walked into Voldemort's throne room. He was standing, staring out the window, as he did so often. Without turning around and before she even made a sound, Voldemort asked, "Has she resurfaced?"

"She did, but she's gone again," answered Irina.

"Did you get any indication of what she was doing while she was gone?" asked Voldemort.

"I don't know. The closest I got was the pub in Hogsmeade," answered Irina.

"What can you tell me?" asked Voldemort.

"She came back late last night and left fairly early this morning," said Irina. "She must have known that you were baiting her."

"I figured she might," said Voldemort, finally turning away from the window to look at her. "And there was no way to follow her?"

"No," said Irina shaking her head.

"Lord Voldemort knows when people are lying to him," said Voldemort, looking her in the eyes. She cocked an eyebrow and kept her eyes locked on his. Voldemort nodded. "Very good. You are dismissed. Rest up. We're going to have a busy couple of weeks."

* * *

Voldemort and the Death Eaters weren't the only ones having a busy couple of weeks. The Order of the Phoenix was kept on its toes by Death Eater attacks. On several occasions, however, they were tipped off before the attack by a message from Cadance, delivered by Fawkes.

In addition to this, Harry kept on training the Aurors from the Order every Saturday and Sunday morning and Wednesday evening. Also, Melinda and Chris were trying to plan a wedding. Cati was actually very helpful, but had to be told a few times to chill out. Hermione, Ginny and Jen were there to keep her at bay.

A month passed and the only word from Cadance came in the form of letters from Fawkes. July turned into August. Melinda and Chris's wedding was less than a week away. Harry celebrated his 37th birthday by cornering three Death Eaters with Ron and Hermione in Knockturn Alley. Ron suggested that next year they all just go out to eat instead.

Melinda, Chris, and Wyatt were on duty in Gryffindor Tower, keeping an eye on things one sunny afternoon. Melinda and Chris were going over last-minute arrangements for their wedding. Wyatt was playing Go Fish with Joseph and Fred. Molly had busied herself with the Daily Prophet and Vivien was working on school work while Abby watched. James was slouched in an armchair, flipping through a Quidditch book.

"Alright, now about the music…" Chris was saying to Melinda.

"Chris, we already have the music taken care of," said Melinda. "The Great Hall is charmed, remember?"

"I know, love, but your grandfather was telling me about this muggle invention called an iPod…" Chris. Melinda gave him a look. "Er—maybe not."

"How many people did you invite?" asked Molly, looking up from the Prophet.

"Just the Order," said Melinda. "And Chris and Wyatt's family, of course."

"The Minister's granddaughter... the niece of the Head Auror… is getting married in the Great Hall of Hogwarts with no wedding party, no large reception, and absolutely no press. The Daily Prophet is going to have a field day when they find out," said Wyatt.

"Well, I'd tell you where the Daily Prophet can shove their news stories, except Abby, Joseph, and Freddy are in the room," said Chris.

"Nobody ever says anything good in front of us," said Fred dejectedly. "We're almost six!"

"Well, geez, you're practically a grown-up," came a voice from behind them. They turned to see Chris and Wyatt's mother and father climbing through the portrait hole.

"You're two days early!" said Wyatt happily, as he, Chris, and Melinda got up to greet them as they joined them. "We weren't expecting you until Wednesday."

"I know," said Leo. "But we got a letter from Harry yesterday saying that he wants to meet with us."

"Where are Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige by the way?" asked Wyatt.

"They should be along any minute," said Piper. "They weren't quite ready to go when we left."

"Do you know what they want to meet you about?" asked Melinda.

"Not a clue," said Piper. "That's why we came early."

Suddenly the portrait hole opened again. Phoebe and Paige entered with McGonagall and Cati, who was in black robes with the Auror insignia on it over top of her jeans and black shirt.

"Look who we ran into on their way up from Hogsmeade," said Cati, indicating to Paige and Piper.

"Finally," said Piper to her sisters, as Chris and Wyatt greeted their aunts. "What the hell took you so long?"

"Phoebe was trying to figure out how to pack the Manor into her suitcase," said Paige.

"Shove it, Paige," said Phoebe.

"Aunt Cati, do you know why Uncle Harry wants to see the Halliwells?" asked Melinda.

"Melinda," said Cati. "I just got off of eighteen hours of surveillance duty in Knockturn Alley. Eighteen straight hours. My brain cells are dead. I don't know a god damn thing. I'm lucky I found the castle."

"Eighteen hours? Didn't you go insane?" asked James.

"You have _no idea_. I was on duty with _Sirius_," said Cati. "Anyway, it's time we all go to the Great Hall and get lunch. Everyone is going to meet us there. Oh, and Freddy, I think the House Elves took your request to heart and made you some hot dogs."

"YES!" exclaimed Fred, bolting to the Portrait Hole. Everyone else followed in a more orderly fashion.

When they got to the Great Hall, Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Charlie, Bill, Sirius, Remus, Jen and Dumbledore were all at the table already. Everyone else was at work. They greeted their new guests and then they all started eating.

"So, has anyone ever heard the story about the time Cati caught her boyfriend cheating on her?" asked Sirius enthusiastically.

Charlie and Bill spit out their food in surprise and started laughing hysterically.

"HEY!" exclaimed Cati, standing up and pointing at him across the table. "YOU SAID THAT WHATEVER WAS SAID WOULD STAY BETWEEN THE TWO OF US! I was just trying to pass the time!"

"I'm not entirely sure this is proper lunch table conversation," said Jen.

"No way! I want to hear this!" exclaimed Wyatt excitedly.

"What are you two laughing about?" asked Cati to Bill and Charlie, who were laughing so hard they could barely breathe.

"Nothing," said Bill. "It's just that we _do_ know the story about the time you caught your boyfriend cheating on you. We were there."

"Alright, if that's how you want to play it, Black," said Cati, her eyes narrowing. "Does anyone know the story about the time Sirius got drunk and ended up in LEBANON!"

"Cati got arrested in Amsterdam!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Well, that's just silly," said Harry, rolling his eyes. "I don't believe that for a second. Nothing's illegal in Amsterdam. It's impossible to get arrested there!" Cati gave a little cough and looked away.

"What did you do?!" exclaimed James, excitedly.

"Don't worry about it," said Cati, shaking her head.

"Well," began Sirius excitedly. "She went to this bar…"

"Who wants to hear all the places in the castle that Sirius has had sex!" exclaimed Cati, interrupting him.

"Who wants to hear Cati's!" countered Sirius.

Melinda turned to her future in-laws and said, "Welcome to Hogwarts."

* * *

"Well, I'm going to get straight to the point," said Harry. The Order of the Phoenix was having a meeting, called at the last minute by Harry upon the arrival of Piper, Leo, Phoebe and Paige. "Arthur and I have decided to send envoys to other Ministries. We're going to start with the Americans, which is why I asked Piper, Leo, Phoebe and Paige to join us. Obviously, they carry a lot of weight over there."

"We'll do what we can to help," said Piper.

"I'm glad to hear it. I want the four of you to join the Aurors that I send," said Harry.

"Who are you going to send?" asked Bill.

"I don't know," said Harry. "That will be tricky. Diplomatic missions require a certain temperament. It'll need to be someone persuasive, but not pushy."

"So… Cati's out then," said Sirius.

"Hey, does anyone want to hear about the time Sirius got locked out of the house in his underwear?" asked Cati.

"Don't start that again, you two," said McGonagall, before Sirius could retaliate.

"No, Sirius is right though, Cate," said Harry. "Diplomacy isn't your strongest suit."

"What?!" exclaimed Cati. "I can be very diplomatic."

"You can't negotiate with a wand out, Cati," said Arthur firmly. "It's bad form."

"I only did that once!" exclaimed Cati. "Okay, _twice_." She paused. "Alright, you've got a point."

"When are you going to send the envoys?" asked Jen.

"I've sent word to the American Ministry to set up an appointment. It won't be until after Chris and Melinda's wedding on Saturday," said Arthur.

"Right, which brings us to our next order of business," said Harry. "I've got 10 Aurors on duty for Melinda's wedding so that all of us can relax and enjoy ourselves."

"Speak for yourself," said Wendy. "I'm not going to be able to relax so long as the bubble-wrap king over here has a drink in his hand." She jerked her thumb over her shoulder at Sirius.

"You know, the bubble-wrap is to make things _safer_ so that you _can_ relax," said Sirius.

"Sirius, you are _not_ bubble-wrapping all the sharp corners at my wedding," said Melinda. "You're just going to have to suck it up and hold your alcohol better."

"Right, well, I think that's all we have for this meeting, actually," said Harry. "Cadance hasn't sent word in over a week and we're kind of low-key this week with the wedding coming up."

"Oh, good, that leaves time to go over some last minute details that I thought of…" began Cati, before Bill clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Run, Melinda! Run!" exclaimed Bill.

Melinda hesitated for a second, then decided to take her Uncle's advice. She hopped up, dragging Chris with her, and bolted out of the room with her fiancée in tow.

As soon as they were gone, Bill moved his hand. "Hey!" exclaimed Cati. "What was that?!"

"Want to go to the kitchen and get some cookies?" asked Bill.

Cati paused and a smile crept over her face. "Yeah."

* * *

On Friday afternoon, everyone was in the Great Hall getting ready for the rehearsal dinner. They had spent Thursday decorating and the Hall was covered in flowers and garlands. They were adding the finishing touches now. Cati was running around, rearranging the centerpieces on all the tables.

"These flowers don't quite compliment each other!" she exclaimed poking at them with her wand and making them change. "What do you think?" she asked Fred, who was walking by.

"I think weddings are boring," said Fred, putting his hands on his hips, and contemplating the red and pink roses in the vase. "Mommy showed me what I'm supposed to wear. The shoes are hard and shiny! How am I supposed to run in those?"

"Honey, spend a week training with your Uncle Harry and you'll never want to run again," said Cati.

"I heard that," called Harry over his shoulder, as he held a box full of flowers for Ginny who was standing on a step ladder, tucking more flowers into a garland draped across the wall decoratively.

"What do you think of the _flowers_, Freddy?" asked Cati. Fred put his palms flat on the table and stood on his tip toes to lean in far enough to sniff the flowers. He pulled back suddenly and sneezed rather violently. There was a _pop!_ and suddenly the flowers in the centerpiece changed to white calla lilies and pink daisies.

"THAT'S PERFECT!" exclaimed Cati, running around to fix the other centerpieces.

Just then, Charlie walked in through the door, a piece of parchment clutched in his hand. "Melinda, can I see you for a minute?" he asked. Melinda and Chris were goofing off with the flowers as they were decorating with them.

"What is it?" asked Melinda. She noticed the look on his face and her smile faded a little. "What?"

"I just got a letter… from your mother," said Charlie.

"She's not coming?" asked Melinda, her eyes getting wide.

"No, she'll be here," said Charlie. "But not tonight for the rehearsal dinner. She'll be here tomorrow."

Melinda ran her hand over her face and Chris put his arm around her. She sighed then said, "As long as she's here tomorrow."

Suddenly, Freddy sneezed again. A split second later, Sirius let out a blood-curling shriek. The box of flowers he had been reaching into had turned into a bowl of piranhas. "HOLY HELL!" exclaimed Sirius, jumping up in down. A piranha had bitten into his finger and Sirius was waving his hand wildly to try to shake it lose.

A few hours and several bandages later, the rehearsal dinner began. Chris and Melinda had no bridal party, except Molly as the maid of honor and Wyatt as the best man. The entire Order of the Phoenix was there. They ran through the ceremony, and Cati didn't interrupt once because Bill kept feeding her cookies. Then they sat down to dinner.

"Hey, are we going to break out the alcohol?" asked Ron as they dug into dinner.

"No, all the alcohol is for _tomorrow_," said Kala, the supplier. "You can get drunk then."

"Yeah, but this is the rehearsal dinner," spoke up George. "We should _rehearse it_."

"There is _way_ too much to do tomorrow to be hung over!" chimed in Cati.

"Yes, but… we could have rum," argued Ron.

"_No_," said Cati.

Ron paused. "But... _rum_."

"No," repeated Cati.

"Oh my God," said Ron. "Cati just turned down rum. This is serious."

"What?" asked Sirius lazily, a little drowsy from the pain reliever Madame Pomfrey gave him for his piranha accident.

"Not you, mate," said Remus.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise from outside the Entrance Hall. It sounded as if something had slammed into the front doors. Cati hopped to her feet, pulling her wand. "Demons?" asked Piper, as every else began pulling out their wands as well.

"I did not sign up for demons at this wedding," said Phoebe, shaking her head.

"Well, it's not like we _invited them_, Aunt Phoebe," said Chris. They heard the noise again.

"Cati, I thought you said you took care of our demon problem," said Charlie.

"What?" asked Cati, confused. "Oh, you mean the Scorpions? I did!" They heard the noise a third time. "That's no demon."

"It sounds like…" began Jen, she trailed off and wrinkled her nose. Then her eyes grew wide. "That's the sound of a strong spell hitting marginally spell-proof doors."

"Death Eaters," said Harry.

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	28. Oh good Another Wedding Scene

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as someone else's!**

**A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!!!!**

* * *

"Oh good," said Arabella, as they all go to their feet and started pulling out their wands. "I was hoping we'd get to do this tonight." Cati had rushed to the doors and looked out into the Entrance Hall, as something continued to bang into the doors to the castle.

"Sarcasm isn't helping," said Harry.

"Shouldn't the Aurors out front have alerted us?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, they probably would have," said Harry. "Except I gave them the night off."

"You WHAT?!" exclaimed Ginny.

"I figured we would all be here so we wouldn't really need them! And I have twice the number of Aurors on duty for tomorrow!" exclaimed Harry.

"Bill, you're a curse-breaker," said Jen. "About how long do we have before they figure out what spell they need to break down the door?"

"Two… maybe three minutes," said Bill.

"James. Molly," said Harry, turning to them. "Take Vivien and Abby and Fred and Joseph and get them out of here." James looked like he was about to argue, but Harry cut him off. "Don't start. Someone has _got_ to get them out of here. Try to find another way out of the castle."

"Where do we go?" asked Molly. "There could be Death Eaters all over Hogsmeade."

"Try to get to my office," said McGonagall. "Use the fireplace to get to the Ministry."

"Come on," said Cati, waving them over. James grabbed Joseph and Fred's hands and bolted for the door with Molly, Vivien and Abby right at his heels. They hadn't reached the end of the Great Hall when suddenly the doors to the castle burst open. James, in the lead, skidded to a stop as a few Death Eaters came in, blasting.

Molly shoved Vivien and Abby off to the side and out of the doorway and then hit the ground beside them. James did the same in the opposite direction with Joseph and Fred. Cati threw her weight against one of the doors to the Great Hall to block out the Death Eaters. James scrambled to his feet and did the same with the other one. Meanwhile, everyone else had drawn wands and were starting forward. Harry, Ron, Charlie, and Bill threw themselves against the door to help hold it closed as the Death Eaters tried to get in. Cati and James backed away from it.

"Damnit, Bill, you said we had two or three minutes!" exclaimed Cati. "You have absolutely no sense of time!"

"I do too!" argued Bill.

"No, you don't!" exclaimed Cati. "You're always late for everything!"

"I'm not late! You're just always _early_…" began Bill. "It's because you're so damn perky all the time!"

"Oh, yeah?! Am I perky NOW?!" shouted Cati.

"Hey, do you think the two of you can maybe shut up for a second? I'm trying to think!" said Harry. "And Cati, you_ are_ kinda perky all the time."

"How many are we up against?" asked Arabella. "Did anyone see?"

"I am not early all the time, Bill!" exclaimed Cati. "I'm always late for work and class!"

"I don't think it was that many," said James. "But there could be more coming."

"Then _you're_ the one who's always late!" exclaimed Bill.

"Is it always this hectic here?" asked Piper. A few of the Death Eaters had begun to throw their weight up against the door to try to open it and Wyatt, Chris, and Leo all joined in to help keep it closed.

"Yes," answered McGonagall, as everyone trained their wands on the door.

Cati ran across the room and started flipping tables over, making a barricade. "Molly, get the kids behind here," she called to her niece as Ginny, Hermione and Jen joined her. Molly grabbed Fred and Joseph by the hands and led them behind the barricade. Vivien and Abby followed. After making sure the kids' heads were down, Molly moved in front with everyone else, and nobody argued as she and James pulled out their wands.

"Let them in," said Cati. Harry, Ron, Charlie, Bill, Chris, Wyatt and Leo, all up against the door, looked at her like she was crazy. "You're only delaying the inevitable!"

McGonagall nodded. "Do it," she said. They backed away quickly and pointed their wands at the doors as they burst open.

Instantly, spells went flying from every direction, as everyone shot through the doorway at the Death Eaters in the entry hall and the Death Eaters fought back.

"You know, this is really _really_ not how I thought I'd spend the night before my wedding," said Melinda, as she stunned a Death Eater. Suddenly, a very powerful shield charm was cast, radiating from a point just behind the Death Eaters and just inside the doors to the Great Hall. The Order's spells just bounced off of it. A cruel high-pitched laughter filled the Great Hall as suddenly, right where the shield charm had been cast from, Voldemort appeared with Bob Reynolds on his left and a Death Eater whom none of them recognized on his right. She was tall with brown hair and piercing brown eyes. Voldemort, the girl, and Reynolds all moved to the front of the shield charm, as the Death Eaters regrouped and flanked them.

"Wow, that was a _pretty_ powerful disillusionment charm," said Cati, staring them down. "We couldn't even see you a little bit."

"Already with the mouth?" asked Voldemort.

"Would you expect any less?" countered Cati.

"Take down that shield charm, Voldemort," said Harry, almost tauntingly.

"Oh, I don't think so," said Voldemort. "If I take it down, spells will start to fly and that doesn't create an environment conducive to conversation."

"What do you want to talk about then?" asked Harry, pacing back and forth in front of the shield.

"Oh, let's start with why I wasn't invited to the wedding tomorrow," said Voldemort. "And here I thought we had this special relationship."

"You know, you would have made a better statement if you had broken in at the point where the Minister asks if there's anyone here who objects to the marriage," piped up Cati.

Voldemort paused, then turned to Bob Reynolds. "I told you," he hissed under his breath.

Suddenly strange beeping noises interrupted the scene. All of the Aurors looked down at their belts or pulled small black boxes out of their pockets. "Time out," said Cati, pulling her magical beeper off of her belt and looking at it. "Hmm. It's the Auror Department. They say there was a disturbance in Hogsmeade and we should be on our guard."

"Oh, snap! We'd better watch out for Death Eaters then," said Ron.

Voldemort pointed his wand off to the side. "Drop your wands or I blow up those tables," he said. Everyone hesitated, and then looked across the hall. Voldemort's angle was such that he had a clear shot at the tables at an angle that would just miss his shield charm. "You stashed the kids behind there, didn't you?" Nobody obeyed the order, so Voldemort started to make a movement with his wand.

"Wait!" exclaimed Harry, putting up his hand. Voldemort stopped and eyed him up. "Alright." He put his arms up and let his wand drop to the floor. Everyone else followed his lead.

"Excellent. Stay where you are," ordered Voldemort. He removed the shield charm, and pointed at Cati. "You. Come here."

"You _just said_ to stay where we are," said Cati. She looked from the girl Death Eater to Bob Reynolds then back to Voldemort. Voldemort pointed his wand at the table again as a threat, and Cati started forward. Reynolds pulled some rope out from the pocket of his robes and stepped forward. He grabbed her and forced her hands behind her back, tying them together.

"Hey!" said Bill, starting forward with an angry look in his eyes. Voldemort quickly made a slashing motion with his wand, and Bill flew backwards and landed spread eagle on the ground. He didn't move.

"I ordered you all not to move," said Voldemort. Jen and Ginny, who had moved towards him, froze again.

"What are you planning on doing?" asked Harry, clearly buying for time.

"Oh, this?" asked Voldemort, pointing at Cati. "This is a present for my newest Death Eater." He put a hand on the unknown Death Eater's shoulder. "I'd like you to meet Irina. You see, Catalin here killed her mother a few months ago." Irina began circling Cati, who looked surprisingly unfrightened.

Harry threw a glance to Mad-Eye on his right and then to Sirius and Remus on his left, trying to come up with a plan to get them all out of there alive.

"Killed your mother, did I?" asked Cati, catching Irina's eye. "Demon or Death Eater?"

"Demon," answered Irina in her thick Romanian accent, pulling a knife out of her robes.

Jen pulled her arm back, about to use her Sorceress powers when Cati shot her a look and shook her head. Jen let her arm drop to her side, looking confused.

"Any last words?" asked Irina, who had stopped circling when she reached Cati's back.

"No, I'm pretty good," said Cati, shaking her head. Irina quickly raised the knife above her head and brought it down. Several people called out in anticipation.

However, they were all shocked, when Irina pulled the knife back up and there was no blood on it. Voldemort looked livid, and the Death Eaters looked equally shocked as Irina flipped the knife into the air and Cati, her hands cut free, reached up and grabbed it and threw it at the nearest advancing Death Eater. Irina was pulling her wand out from her robes and she and Cati dove to the floor as spells cast by the Death Eaters flew over their heads

Harry quickly reached down and snatched his wand off of the floor. "_Protego_!" he shouted, raising his wand. The shield charm erupted right in front of Cati and Irina, spells bouncing off of it.

Voldemort stared angrily at them from behind the shield. "I should have _known_," he hissed. He was glaring down at the floor. Harry followed his gaze and saw that where Irina had been seconds before was now…

"Cadance!" exclaimed Charlie, as Cati and Cadance started to get to their feet.

"Good of you to join us," said Cati as she and Cadance backed up, not turning their backs to Voldemort.

"I wasn't about to let you have all the fun," said Cadance.

"Looks like you've been having plenty of fun on your own," said Cati.

"Don't sound so bitter. I invited you to come."

"This isn't over," said Voldemort. He turned on his heel, his cloak billowing, and stomped out of the entrance of the Great Hall, his Death Eaters following. Bob Reynolds hesitated a moment, but then followed as well.

Cati went over to Bill and bent over him. "Wake up," she said, slapping his face a few times. He began to stir.

"Did Voldemort just walk out of here without much of a fight?" asked Wendy, pointing her wand at the doors to the Great Hall. They slammed shut.

"He had to," said Cadance shaking her head. "The minute I revealed myself, he knew he had been compromised. He had to go back to gather his Death Eaters and figure out if anyone else had been compromised as well. Then he's going to have to move his lair, because it's no longer secure; I have been able to come and go freely for the past few months."

Cati helped Bill to sit up. He rubbed his head. "What happened?" He looked around and noticed that Charlie had his arms wrapped around Cadance. Vivien, Abby, Joseph, and Fred were all crawling out from behind the table. "Where did she come from? Where's Voldemort."

"Eh, don't worry about it," said Cati dismissively helping him to his feet. "Cadance was disguised as a Death Eater."

"This is how you've been able to tip us off to Death Eater attacks these past few months?" asked Harry.

"That _hasn't_ been easy," said Cadance. "Voldemort is very untrusting of _everyone_. Often times, he wouldn't tell us what he was planning until minutes before it was executed. Luckily…"

She was cut off as the doors to the Great Hall banged open. "YOU!" shouted Harry, raising his wand and pointing it at the figure entering. It was Bob Reynolds.

"Harry, no!" shouted Cadance, stepping in his line of fire. Everyone started to pull their wands back out.

"What are you doing?" asked Harry, confused. "Get out of the way!"

"He's on our side now," chimed in Cati.

Cadance cracked a smile. "When did you figure it out?" she asked.

"The minute you two appeared," said Cati. "Bob would certainly have recognized your disguise; you used to use it all the time. So either you were _incredibly lucky_ that he didn't, or he was keeping your secret."

"_What_ is going on?!" exclaimed Harry.

"Everyone sit down and I'll explain everything," said Cadance. She pointed her wand at the tables on the floor and they all turned upright and the chairs slid into place under them. "And put your wands away before you hurt someone." Everyone obeyed.

Only Cadance and Bob remained standing. Cadance began her story. "A few months ago, Bob contacted an old friend in the Department of Mysteries, tipping him off to a Death Eater attack."

"He contacted Frank Brown?" asked Cati.

Cadance nodded and continued. "Frank Brown personally went to the target house in secret and removed the family before the Death Eaters arrived, then waited. When it became apparent that the tip was genuine he left to meet Bob. He's been feeding him tips ever since, acting as a double agent. That's when they came up with the plan to put another mole close to Voldemort. That's when Frank Brown contacted Harry about reassigning Cati and I. Bob said he wouldn't work with anyone else."

"They were the only two I knew of who could pull it off," explained Bob.

"We couldn't get in touch with Bob before I went into Voldemort's lair, so I had to pick a disguise that I knew he would recognize as soon as he saw me," said Cadance. "My transmographacation powers are kind of limited, so I had used that disguise several times before when I was a younger Auror. I knew Bob would recognize it. And, more importantly, I knew _Cati _would recognize it, just in case we ever came across each other in battle or anything."

"So why did Reynolds leave Voldemort tonight?" asked Harry. "He could have stayed and continued to feed us information."

"Voldemort left here because he's going to have to move his lair again," answered Reynolds. "His current one is no good anymore because it had been infiltrated from the inside. The first thing he's going to do when he gets back is start looking for clues as to how Cadance got in. The trail is going to lead him right back to me. Every Death Eater in that place will be able to tell him that Cadance and I were friendly. Cadance and I had discussed it when she first arrived and we decided that if she was ever exposed, I would have to run."

"So how did Voldemort find out about the wedding then?" asked Harry. "We were keeping that a secret, and I assume that you, Cadance, didn't tell him." He was looking accusingly at Reynolds; he obviously didn't trust him yet.

"Haven't you guys seen the Evening Prophet yet?" asked Cadance. She reached into her robe pockets and pulled out the paper and threw it on the table in front of Harry. The front page had a picture of Melinda and Chris. The headline read, "MINISTER'S GRANDDAUGHTER TO WED."

"How did they find out?!" asked Melinda.

"Well, let's see, shall we?" asked Cadance in a tone that clearly implied that she already knew. She snatched the paper out of Harry's hands and read from it. "_A large group of men, several of whom are known members of the Order of the Phoenix, were seen celebrating at Tipsy's Tavern in Yorkshire on Thursday evening. Miss Weasley's fiancé, Chris Halliwell, was the center of the celebration, and onlookers overheard them mention the wedding_." She glared at them all over the top of the newspaper. Sirius and Remus avoided her gaze and Harry and Ron started whistling in what they hoped was an inconspicuous manner.

"You're not going to believe everything you read in the newspaper, are you dear?" asked Chris, looking at Melinda, who was fuming.

"Yeah, they're totally wrong," said Bill. "We were _all_ known members of the Order of the Phoenix, not just several of us!"

"You said you were going to pick up your dress robes!" exclaimed Cati.

"Well, we did that first," said Charlie, shrugging.

"Who all was there?" asked Hermione, looking at Ron angrily.

"Uh… everyone," said Ron sheepishly. "All the _guys_, at least."

Jen whacked George on the back of the head. "You said you were working late!"

"Thanks a lot, Ron," said George sarcastically.

"Hey, if I'm going down I'm taking _everybody_ with me," said Ron defensively.

"In our defense," said Charlie, "It was all Leo's idea!"

"Whoa, hey!" exclaimed Leo, throwing his hands up defensively. "What gives?!"

"One thing's for sure," assured Cati. "You will all get your butts up here early tomorrow because _as punishment_ you are cleaning this hall back up before the wedding."

All the guys exchanged a look.

"Cadance, someone has to go to Frank Brown and let him know what happened," said Bob. "Should I?"

"Yes, you'd better," said Cadance. "Voldemort must have realized you're gone by now and you're going to have to lie low for a while. Frank already has arrangements to hide you."

"I don't…" began Bob, but Cadance shot him a look. He heaved a sigh and then turned on his heel and walked out of the Great Hall.

"You're certain he's switched sides then?" asked Mr. Weasley, as soon as he had gone.

"You're worried?" asked Cadance, looking to him. She suddenly looked very tired.

"Can you blame me?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"Cadance, I can't believe…" began Harry.

"That's unfortunate," said Cadance, cutting in.

"You trust him," said Harry, shaking his head. "After all he's done."

"Yes, I do," said Cadance. "Forgiveness, Harry. It's what sets us apart from them." She indicated to three Death Eaters lying on the floor; two of them stunned, one of them dead from a stab wound in the chest.

* * *

Cadance felt as though her head had barely touched the pillow when Charlie was shaking her awake the next morning. She opened her eyes. The sun was barely up. "If Cati's saying that it's _my_ turn because I wasn't here for a few months, you can tell her…" she began, rolling over to go back to bed.

"No, it's not a demon," said Charlie. "Our daughter's getting married today."

Cadance rolled back over to look at him. "It's 6:00 in the morning," she deadpanned. "We have ten hours."

"Cati says its time to get up," said Charlie, shrugging. "You were the one who left her in charge." Cadance groaned and rolled out of bed. Charlie took her hand and led her out into the Common Room, where about half of the Order of the Phoenix was assembled rather sleepily. Only Cati looked wide awake, as she shoved a mug of coffee into Cadance's hands.

"I hate you a little bit right now," said Cadance.

"Join the club," said Sirius with a yawn.

"Come on! We've got a lot of stuff to do today!" exclaimed Cati. "For one, the boys have to get down to the Great Hall to clean up. Phoebe, Paige and Wendy are going to oversee that, since obviously the boys cannot be left to their own devices."

"Uh… I've got a question," said Cadance, raising her hand. "Where's the happy couple?"

"The bride and groom aren't supposed to see each other before the wedding, duh," said Cati. "We planned this ages ago. Melinda slept at Jen and George's with Jen, Hermione, and Ginny. Chris was _supposed_ to stay at Harry and Ginny's with Harry, Ron and George, but after the bachelor party fiasco we sent him with Merlin, Godric and Albus instead. We figured they would be more responsible."

"They obviously didn't see Merlin after three mugs of mead," muttered Ron to Sirius, who nodded in agreement.

"The guys will be getting ready in Gryffindor Tower and the girls will be getting ready here," said Cati. "I already talked to Jen this morning and she said she was going to wake Melinda up around 8 o'clock and then they'll be over. Are there any questions?" Immediately, Sirius put up his hand. Cati narrowed her eyes at him and said, "Is this question going to make me want to put a hex on you?" She pulled out her wand for emphasis. Sirius put his hand down.

The next few hours were hectic, as everyone ran around trying to get the Hall and themselves ready. Finally, a few minutes before four o'clock, Chris took his spot at the front of the Great Hall with Wyatt and Mr. Weasley. Just outside, in the Entrance Hall, Cadance, Charlie, Piper and Leo were standing with Melinda and Molly. Molly was adjusting Melinda's train. Cadance and Piper were straightening her veil.

"Alright, it's almost time," said Cadance, grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. "Are you nervous?"

"No," said Melinda genuinely, beaming widely.

"We'd better go take our seats," said Piper. Cadance nodded and kissed her daughters forehead, before following Piper and Leo back into the hall. They took their seats in the first row. There was an empty seat in between them for Charlie. Cati was on Cadance's other side.

"I always think its funny that the Minister can perform weddings like this," said Cati, shaking her head.

Cadance inclined her head towards Cati and said, "Are you going to talk throughout this whole wedding?"

"I'll be good, I swear," said Cati.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the music started. Molly started down the aisle. She winked at Fred and Joseph, who were waving wildly at her, and took her place at the front. Then, Melinda and Charlie started down the aisle.

Sirius, sitting right behind Cadance, leaned forward in his chair and whispered, "Hey, I know this might not be the right time to ask this, but is 4:30 too early to start drinking?"

Cadance and Piper turned around and shot him a look. "Sirius," hissed Piper admonishingly.

"Sorry. Sorry," said Sirius quietly. "It's alright, I'll ask Remus."

By now, Charlie and Melinda had reached the front of the Great Hall. Charlie lifted her veil, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and took his seat between Cadance and Piper. Chris and Melinda clasped hands.

Mr. Weasley smiled and said, "Family, friends… _Order of the Phoenix_. We are gathered here today to bear witness to a deeper and more sacred magic than can ever be taught within these walls; love. It is beautiful thing that love such as theirs can blossom and grow even in such dark times. It is further proof that good is stronger than evil. Now I must ask that if anyone has any reason that these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Collectively, everyone turned around and looked at the doors to the Great Hall, but they remained closed. "We appear to be Death Eater-free," said Moody. "Get on with it, Arthur."

"Right, well then, repeat after me," said Mr. Weasley. "I, Melinda, take thee, Chris."

"I, Melinda, take thee Chris."

"To have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer," continued Mr. Weasley.

"To have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poor," repeated Melinda.

"Through demons and Death Eaters," added Mr. Weasley. Melinda looked at him and cocked and eyebrow. "Just say it."

"Through demons and Death Eaters," repeated Melinda.

"For long as we both shall live, until death parts us," finished Mr. Weasley.

"For long as we both shall live, until death parts us."

"I, Chris, take thee, Melinda," Mr. Weasley started over.

"I, Chris, take thee, Melinda," repeated Chris.

"To have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer," continued Mr. Weasley.

"To have and to hold, for better or for worse, for richer or for poor."

"Through demons and Death Eaters," added Mr. Weasley.

Chris threw a little smile and Melinda, who was trying to suppress a ridiculous grin as well. "Through demons and Death Eaters."

"For long as we both shall live, until death parts us," finished Mr. Weasley.

"For long as we both shall live, until death parts us."

"Lovely. Now, the rings," said Mr. Weasley. Wyatt reached into the pocket of his tuxedo and pulled them out and handed them to him. "Excellent. Alright, Chris, put this ring on Melinda's finger and repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed. Take this as a token of my love and fidelity."

"With this ring, I thee wed. Take this as a token of my love and fidelity." Chris winked at Melinda as he slipped it on her finger.

"Right," said Mr. Weasley. "Melinda, same thing."

"With this ring, I thee wed. Take this as a token of my love and fidelity."

"By the power vested in me by… well, by the Ministry of Magic I suppose… I now pronounce you husband and wife," said Mr. Weasley. "You may now kiss the bride." Chris pulled Melinda in close and kissed her. Everyone began to clap, and Wyatt let out a catcall.

When Chris and Melinda finally pulled away from each other, she turned to look at her grandfather. "Demons and Death Eaters?" she asked.

"I vamped a little," he said, pulling out his wand and waving it at the table that had been set for dinner. The food appeared on it.

For the next few hours, everyone occupied themselves with eating and drinking and dancing. Some time around 8:00, one of the Aurors from outside came up to Cadance where she was sitting with Charlie and Piper. "Major Weasley," he said. "Major Brown is outside and he would like a word with you."

Before Cadance could respond, Charlie said, "No, no, no. No work. Not today."

Cadance grinned at the Auror. "You heard him," she said. "I'm on vacation. You can tell Frank that if he wants something to eat, he can come inside, but other than that, there's nothing I can do for him until September." The Auror nodded and headed out of the Great Hall.

Chris, meanwhile, took a seat at the other end of the table, while Melinda went off to the bathroom with Molly, since in true girl fashion neither could go alone. James went and sat down next to him. "Hey, man, there's something I want to talk to you about," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," said James. "First off, welcome to the family."

"Well, thanks," said Chris.

"That being said, if you ever hurt my cousin, I'm going to kill you and make it look like an accident," said James. Chris stared blankly back at him. "You think I'm kidding? You don't think I can do it? I spent a lot of time with Aunt Cati this summer and let's just say I picked up a few things. Ask someone. Hey, Aunt Cadance! Can't Aunt Cati kill someone and make it look like an accident?"

"Oh yeah, she knows eight different ways," said Cadance, nodding.

"Nine," corrected Cati, who was passing by. "I came up with another one while you were gone."

"Yeah, but it doesn't count unless you try it out and know that it works," said Cadance, shaking her head.

Cati cleared her throat.

"Oh," said Cadance. She looked around awkwardly. "I'm going to go find Charlie then." She walked away, throwing a backwards glance at Cati.

"Something to think about," said James, clapping Chris on the shoulder, and getting up and walking around.

"What was that about?" asked Melinda, coming up to him.

"Your cousin… eh, don't worry about it," said Chris, shaking his head. "Let's dance."

* * *

"That was _quite_ a party," said Sirius, the next morning as they gathered for breakfast in the Great Hall. He was still wearing his dress robes from the night before. Melinda and Chris had left for their honeymoon around 11:00, but the party continued on after they had left.

"Yes, it was, Sirius my friend," said Wyatt, pouring himself some coffee. "I kinda wish George would have kept his pants on though."

"I can't believe he wears leopard-print boxers," said Remus, shaking his head.

Just then, Cadance and Charlie walked in, hand-in-hand. "Well, I've got good news for you," said Cadance. "You don't have to stay in the Gryffindor Common Room anymore. You can all go home."

"Really?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah," said Cadance. "The real reason I wanted you all here was because if Voldemort figured out what I was doing, he would probably attack, and I didn't want him to be able to pick you all off one-by-one. I figured you'd be safe here. But now, he's _already_ attacked."

"Great," said Sirius. "They finished rebuilding my house a month ago."

"Did you ever find out what Frank Brown wanted last night, Cadance?" asked Piper.

"Yeah, I contacted the department this morning," answered Cadance. "He wanted to talk to me about Bob Reynolds. He's in a safe house now, but we're not sure how long he can stay there, so he wanted to make other arrangements. It's alright through, because I've got a plan."

"Oh yeah? What's that?" asked Cati.

"He's going to work here."

"He's _what_?" asked Harry, staring at her blankly.

"Nice," said Cati, grinning and nodding in approval. "This is going to be fun. Poor Minerva is going to go _nuts_."

"He's going to teach the Auror class," said Cadance. "If you'll remember, we said that it would be perfect if we had a retired Auror to teach it."

"Bob Reynolds didn't _retire_," said Harry. "He joined the Dark Lord."

"Harry, do you trust _me_?" asked Cadance.

"Of course I do," said Harry.

"Then trust him," said Cadance. "He's done more good than harm."

"Right, then I'll forget about how he arrested you, fixed a Wizengamot trial, sentenced you to the Dementor's Kiss, and almost executed it except Cati sprung you out of Azkaban, mind you, and then he put your husband under the Imperius Curse and almost made him kill you," said Harry sarcastically.

"That was nearly twenty years ago," said Cadance. "You _really _know how to hold a grudge."

"I learned from the best," said Harry, jerking his thumb at Sirius.

"Oh! Speaking of!" exclaimed Cadance, suddenly remembering something. "Sirius! Guess who I ran into in Voldemort's lair?"

"Pettigrew," said Sirius.

"No! Well, yes… but that's not who I'm talking about," said Cadance. "_Your cousin_."

Harry began choking on his toast and Ginny had to pat him on his back. Nearly everyone looked confusedly back and forth from Sirius to Cadance.

"Is she still alive?" asked Sirius, as his lip curled into a disgusted sneer involuntarily. "Didn't we kill her yet?"

"No, she's still alive," said Cadance.

"I could have sworn we killed her _last time_," said Sirius, shaking his head.

"No, we didn't, but Minerva did chase her around with a knife," said Remus casually.

"You've got a cousin that's a Death Eater?" asked Harry.

"Yeah, Andromeda's sister," said Sirius. "Bellatrix."

"_Lestrange_?!" asked Hermione.

"Well, you can't pick your family," said Sirius. "I don't like to talk about it."

"Why haven't you ever mentioned it before?" asked Harry.

"It's a touchy subject," said Sirius, shrugging.

"Why's that?"

"She killed Wendy," said Sirius simply.

Everyone turned to look at Wendy, who paused with a forkful of pancakes halfway to her mouth. "What? You guys knew I was killed by Death Eaters before I became a White Lighter."

"Yeah, but not one that Sirius was _related_ to," pointed out Harry.

Just then, the Jen came into the Great Hall with Abby and Freddy. "Sorry we're late, but it was hard to get the kids going this morning," she said.

"Where's George?" asked Charlie.

"Oh, he's grounded," said Jen. "We'll see if he takes his pants off in public ever again. What have I missed?"

* * *

"Are you _sure_ Bellatrix isn't dead?" asked Sirius two days later.

"You're still on that?" asked Remus from behind his newspaper. They were sitting in Jen and George's living room, finally back in Godric's Hollow, with George, Wendy, Cadance, Charlie, Cati, Bill, Harry and Ron. Hermione, Ginny and Jen were out in the back yard watching Molly, James and Vivien giving Abby, Fred, and Joseph flying lessons.

"Sirius, I was _there_," said Cadance, as she came into the room with a piece of cake on a plate. "I saw her."

"Ooh, is that Molly's cake?" asked Sirius, distracted by the cake.

"Yeah, it's the last piece," said Cadance, sitting down on the couch next to Sirius. "Crap, I forgot milk." She put it down on the coffee table and went back into the kitchen.

"Sirius, I can't believe you never mentioned that Bellatrix Lestrange was your cousin," said Harry.

"Well, it's not exactly something that's easy to throw into every day conversation," said Sirius, reaching over and picking up Cadance's cake.

"She's going to kill you," said Remus, without looking up from his newspaper.

Cadance came back into the room, carrying a glass of milk. "HEY!" she exclaimed. "That's my cake!"

"I told you," said Remus.

"You should have licked it," said Sirius, sticking his fork in the cake. "If you didn't lick it, you didn't claim it."

"That's not the rule!" exclaimed Cadance, sitting back down next to him and reaching for the cake, which he held out of her reach. Cadance glared at him and pulled out her wand.

"Whoa, hey! Order members aren't supposed to use magic on each other. That's _definitely_ a rule!" said Sirius.

"I'm not going to use magic on you, I'm going to _shove this up your nose_!"

"You know, back when you were little, people used to say how cute and sweet you were. _What happened_?" asked Sirius.

"Oh, my babysitter got thrown in Azkaban," said Cadance, nodding matter-of-factly.

Sirius groaned and handed the cake to her. "Okay, but you can't use that against me any more this week," he said. He slumped back against the couch, pouting.

Then, Jen walked in. "I can't watch them any more. They're making me too nervous," she said. She noticed Cadance was eating cake. "Hey! Is that the last piece of cake!? I wanted that!"

Cadance looked guiltily up at her and swallowed her mouthful of cake. "My babysitter got thrown in Azkaban," she said.

Jen cocked an eyebrow at her, shifted her weight to one foot, and put her hand on her hip. "I was sent off to live in a muggle orphanage and you didn't find me until 3 years _after_ I was supposed to come back."

Cadance groaned and then held out the cake. Jen took it, but continued to glare at her. Cadance grudgingly handed over her glass of milk as well. "You know, it wasn't _my fault_ you were sent off to the muggle orphanage, and I _did_ go looking for you."

"It wasn't _my fault_ I got thrown in Azkaban!" jumped in Sirius. Everyone turned and looked at him questioningly. "Alright, it was."

"Uhh… I lived with the Dursleys and I vanquished the Dark Lord," said Harry, raising his hand. "Can I have the cake?"

"The Dark Lord _came back_," said Jen, shaking her head. "Shoddy work, my friend. Nice try."

"Okay, well, once I vanquish him _for good_, does that mean I can use that to get the last piece of cake?"

"Yes," said Jen, nodding. "Once you vanquish the Dark Lord, you automatically get last-piece-of-cake-privileges."


	29. Where a kid can be a kid

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's.

A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! I actually gave food to people who reviewed the last chapter in this chapter.

* * *

"Good evening, everyone," said Cadance, as she walked into the Order meeting room. It was four days after the Wedding. Melinda and Chris were still on their honeymoon. The Order of the Phoenix was having its first meeting since her return. Chris and Wyatt's parents and aunts were present. It was clear that they were now considered members of the Order. "Who are we missing?"

"Other than the newlyweds, just my uncle," said Cati. "He left yesterday morning and said he was going on vacation and that he doesn't want to see anyone who's robes have the Hogwarts crest or the Auror's insignia on them until school starts up again."

"Okay, well, I suppose we should get down to business then," said Cadance. "Harry and Arthur have heard back from the Americans and they've set a date for the meeting with their Magical Congress."

"Saturday," said Harry, nodding.

"It's Wednesday. That's 3 days away," said Sirius.

"Awwww! You've finally learned your days of the week!" said Cati, adopting that tone usually reserved for small children and animals. Sirius made a rude hand gesture at her.

"Arthur and I made a decision on who we're sending to the meeting with the Americans," said Harry, ignoring him. "Remus, Arabella, and Alastor are going to be joining Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Leo. You're expected at the American capitol on Saturday morning. You're meeting with the president at 8:00 a.m."

"Ha ha, you have to get up early," teased Sirius, grinning at Remus, sitting on his left.

"Arabella, do you want to take this one?" asked Remus, turning to Arabella, sitting on his other side.

"Love to," said Arabella, leaning forward to get a good look at Sirius. "8:00 in the morning there is 1:00 in the afternoon here."

"Ha ha, you have to get up before 1:00 on a Saturday," teased Sirius, breaking out into a grin again.

"So do you," said Harry. "Training. We've been doing it _every_ Saturday and _every_ Wednesday for months now. Remember?"

Sirius groaned. "I blocked that out," he said.

"We _just_ got done with a training session," said Harry, shaking his head.

"Er, back to the meeting," said Arthur, redirecting everyone's attention. "You'll come home directly afterwards to give us your report." Remus, Arabella, and Moody nodded to show they were on board.

"What do we do if the meeting doesn't go well?" asked Jen.

"Why wouldn't it go well? Its not like Cati is going," said Sirius.

"I still think I would be excellent in negotiations, but _whatever_," said Cati flippantly.

"Cati, I'll make a deal with you," said Harry. "If you have less than five things not including your wand on your person right now that you can use as a weapon, you can go with them. _Less than five_."

Cati stood up and started emptying her pockets onto the table. From one of the pockets of her robes she pulled out her wand and a knife and a vial of a strange, amber liquid that seemed to be swirling on its own. From her other pocket, she pulled out another knife, some fireworks from George's joke shop, and a leather pouch. "See," she said.

"Can this be used as a weapon?" asked Sirius, pointing at the vial.

"Well, it depends on how you define…" began Cati, before Bill cut her off.

"Yes," he said .

"What about this?" asked Remus picking up the leather pofuch.

"Flash powder," said Cati. "It can blind you temporarily. Purely a distraction. Not dangerous."

"Do we count the flash powder or the fireworks?" asked Ron, turning to Harry. Harry shook his head.

"Uh, anyone who's ever seen Cati in Potions class knows that fireworks are _definitely_ dangerous," interjected Charlie.

Harry raised an eyebrow in Cati's direction. She gave him a look that said "What?"

"Okay, so, two knives, a potion, and some fireworks," said Wyatt, pointing at the pile of stuff on the table. "That's only four things. I have to say, I'm a little disappointed."

Cadance cleared her throat pointedly and stared Cati down. Cati sighed and then put her foot up on her chair and reached into her boot. She pulled out two knives from her left shoe and added them to the pile.

"Six," said Harry. "Sorry, Cati, you lose."

Cadance cleared her throat again. Cati rolled her eyes and then pulled one more knife out of her other boot, threw it on the table, then sat down, glaring at Cadance. "You know, the only reason Cadance knows that those were there was because she's got some hidden in the same place," said Cati. Harry, meanwhile was looking at Cati. "What?"

"You've got more stuff on you, don't you?" he asked.

"Well, that all depends. How do you define 'stuff'?" asked Cati.

"Would you make it through muggle airport security right now?" asked Harry.

"Why would I have to go through muggle airport security?"

"Because I told you to," said Harry. "Would you make it through?"

"Not a chance."

"Great."

* * *

Cadance woke on Saturday morning when Cati ripped open the curtains, letting the sunlight pour in through the window. Cadance groaned and rolled over, pulling the covers over her head. "It's 11 o'clock!" exclaimed Cati. Cadance poked her head out from under the covers and squinted in Cati's direction.

"I hope you're a demonic shape-shifter impersonating my best friend Cati, because if you're really Cati I'm going to miss you later since I'm going to _vanquish_ you," said Cadance. She pushed herself up on her elbows, while glaring at Cati.

"I tried to wake you up for training early this morning, but Charlie told me to get out or he'd poison my oatmeal," said Cati.

"As I told you when you tried to make me come on _Wednesday_, I submitted my request for vacation time an hour after my daughter's wedding reception and Harry approved it immediately, so if anyone wants anything Auror-y from me they can wait until September," said Cadance. "Is there a reason you came in here to wake me up?"

"Only that it's 11:00, I just got done with training, and Charlie told me that you were still asleep," said Cati. "Oh, and we all decided that we're going to Sirius's house for lunch in an hour after Harry and Arthur see Mad-Eye, Remus, and Arabella off at the Ministry."

"Why Sirius's house?" asked Cadance, climbing out of bed and grabbing her robe from the bedpost and putting it on.

"Oh, well, you know how they finally finished rebuilding Sirius's house a few weeks ago so he and Wendy moved in on Sunday when everyone from Godric's Hollow was finally able to leave the Gryffindor Common Room and go home since you graced us with your presence on Friday and graciously gave them permission?"

"Uh… yeah, I vaguely recall doing something like that," said Cadance.

"Well, apparently Sirius had them put in a pool," said Cati, breaking out into a grin.

"A pool, huh?"

* * *

"How'd you get the Auror Department to pay for a new swimming pool?" asked Cadance, as the extended Weasley family and Wyatt stood in Sirius and Wendy's backyard, most of them wearing bathing suits under their clothes, staring appreciatively at the new in-ground swimming pool with a diving board. There were lounge chairs all around the pool and a large picnic table off to the side.

"Whoa, wait, we paid for all this?" asked Harry pointing at the pool.

"My home was damaged through the course of a Death Eater attack. As an Auror, all repairs are covered by the Ministry," explained Sirius.

"You didn't have a pool before," said Harry.

"Yes, well, that came out of my hazard pay for being kidnapped and held hostage by Voldemort," said Sirius.

"We got hazard pay for that?" asked Cati, scrunching her forehead in confusion.

"Do you look at your paychecks before you cash them?" asked Sirius.

"No. Why?" asked Cati. Sirius opened his mouth to comment, but then shut it and shook his head.

"So who wants lunch?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "I can whip something up real quick." Everyone agreed that they were hungry, so Mrs. Weasley turned around and went back into the House. Wendy went with her to help.

"Can we go swimming now?" asked Freddy, looking at the adults with hopeful wide eyes, as everyone started to take seats around the pool. Joseph gasped and mimicked his expression, nodding in agreement.

"Sure, sport," said Cadance. "Dive right in."

Fred threw his arms up in excitement, let out a yell, and started to run towards the pool. "Whoa, wait," said George, reaching out and grabbing his son by the back of the robes and lifting him up off the ground. "What do you say we get you an inner tube first, bud?"

"I'm almost six! I don't need an inner tube!" exclaimed Freddy.

"Me neither!" exclaimed Joseph excitedly.

"Oh, did either of you learn how to swim and not tell us about it?" asked Hermione.

"I do it all the time in the bathtub," said Freddy.

"Alright," said George, shrugging. He shifted his grasp on Freddy so that he was holding him up by the shoulders of his robes. He turned to James and Molly, who had already slid into the pool. "James. Molly. Check and see if this can swim." He tossed Freddy into the pool.

"GEORGE!" shrieked Jen.

Freddy's face broke the surface of the water and he coughed while struggling to swim. "See! I can do it!" he called. Then he went under again. James grabbed his arm and pulled him up.

"There you go, Freddy," said James as he pulled him to the edge of the pool where Jen was reaching out to pull him out.

"Hey, I was trying to swim!" exclaimed Fred, glaring daggers at James as his mother lifted him out by his arm and put him on the deck.

"Honey, you can't go swimming until you take off your robes and your socks and shoes and your t-shirt and you have some sort of flotation device," said Jen, adopting a parenting tone.

"Awww, Maaaaaaaaa," whined Freddy.

"If you do as I say, you can jump off the diving board," said Jen.

"Okay!"

"Me, too?" asked Joseph, looking up at his mom.

"Yes, you may," said Hermione, as she started to take off his robes. That became difficult however, as he plopped down on the ground and began taking off his socks and shoes. Jen was taking off Fred's wet clothes as well.

"Alright, children, listen up!" exclaimed Cati. She, Cadance, and Ginny had claimed lounge chairs, stripped down to their bathing suits, and assumed the sunbathing position. "Does anyone need to be reminded about what happens when the sunbathing of Aunt Cati is interrupted?" In response, Vivien and Abby ran and jumped into the pool, splashing Cadance, Cati, and Ginny.

"You _had_ to open your big mouth," said Cadance, shaking her head at Cati.

They spent about an hour swimming, sunbathing, and talking. Then, Molly and Wendy came out with sandwiches, salad, and other assorted picnic foods. They conjured up another table and all sat down to lunch. The conversation turned to Voldemort rather quickly.

"If we _don't_ get the support of the American Ministry, we're going to need to turn to someone else," said Harry. "That's just the way it is. We need help."

"Actually, Albus, Minerva, the founders, and Merlin are looking into that now," said Arthur. "They said their idea of a relaxing Saturday was one spent in a comfortable armchair with a book instead of next to a pool."

"Clearly they've never experienced the joys of sunbathing," said Cati, shaking her head. "You know, I think that if Voldemort tried sunbathing, he'd be in a much better place emotionally."

"There! Right there!" exclaimed Bill, pointing at his wife. "Statements like that are the reason you don't get to meet the President!" Cat threw a cookie at him.

"Hey! Don't waste that!" exclaimed Sirius, picking it up from the floor, dusting it off, and putting it in his mouth.

"Don't eat food off the floor!" shrieked Wendy.

"Don't tell me what to do, woman!"

"Excuse me?" said Wendy, dangerously.

"Damnit, I'm going to have to sleep in a pool float tonight, aren't I?"

* * *

After eating lunch, the sunbathing and swimming continued. Mrs. Weasley came out and sat under and umbrella at the picnic table and watched her grandchildren swim. Mr. Weasley went over to sit with her.

"GRANDPA! GRANDMA! WATCH MY DIVE!" shouted Joseph as he ran by holding his inner tube up around his waist. He hopped up on the diving board and ran to the end before coming to a complete stop. He held his nose and stepped off the end.

"Good one!" called Mr. Weasley, laughing as Joseph popped back up above the surface of the water.

Meanwhile, James was trying to teach Fred to swim in the shallow end of the pool, while Jen watched from where she was sitting with Cadance, Cati, Hermione, and Ginny, who had returned to their sunbathing. "Fred, you've got to kick your legs more or you'll sink," he was saying. Fred began kicking his legs madly, splashing the girls. Cati's head snapped up.

"Uh oh," said Bill, as he waded by James and Fred. "You appear to have angered it." Cati hopped up, ran to the edge of the pool and dove onto Bill, taking him underwater. They both came up and she pushed him down again before he threw her off of him.

"Hey! NO HORSE PLAY IN THE POOL!" screamed Jen. Bill and Cati stopped their playful fighting to look at her.

"Geez, alright, _Minerva_," said Cati, rolling her eyes.

"Well, _someone_ needs to act like Professor McGonagall when she's not around," said Jen. Cati climbed out of the pool and returned to her sun bathing, but not before wringing her hair out over Cadance, who didn't even look up from the book she reading.

"Hey, Ron," said Harry, as he and George walked up behind him where he was standing with his glass of lemonade. "Do you want to…" He trailed off as he noticed that Ron was staring at something. Harry and George followed his gaze to where Cadance, Cati, Hermione, Ginny, and Jen sat.

"Ron, are you _leering_ at the girls?" asked Harry cocking an eyebrow.

"Did you ever notice that our wives are so much hotter than us?" asked Ron.

"Every damn day," said George, shaking his head.

"No, seriously," said Ron. "Ever since we started training twice a week, they look better than ever and we're still old and flabby!"

Charlie walked by. "Hey, what are we staring at?" he asked, joining them.

"Out hot wives," said George.

Meanwhile, Freddy was sitting on the end of Cadance's lounge chair, questioning her about her various battle wounds. "What's this one from?" he asked, pointing to her knee where a long scar ran straight down it.

"Demon pushed me down the stairs," she said, glancing up from her book long enough to know what he was pointing at.

"What about these?" he asked, pointing to her stomach where there was one scar visible just below her bikini-top and another on her side.

"Salazar Slytherin. Peter Pettigrew," she said pointing to the first and then the second.

"What's that one?" he asked pointing at her neck, where a long thin faint scar was just barely visible from the angle at which Freddy was sitting.

"Ex-boyfriend turned out to be a demon," she said.

"What about that one?" he asked, pointing to her elbow.

"Your Aunt Cati," she said.

"It's been over 30 years and you still won't admit that it was _your own fault_ that you fell out of that tree," said Cati, shaking her head.

"Uncle Harry, where's your cool scar from?" asked Fred, getting bored with Cadance's scars and turning to Harry.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Harry, wondering how he was going to explain that one to his five-year-old nephew. Joseph and Abby, who were also too young to know the whole story, looked curiously at Harry as well. To the three of them, Voldemort was a constant presence, not something that had been defeated before and returned; they had never known a time without him.

Luckily, Harry was spared having to answer as Moody, Arabella, Mad-Eye, and Leo walked out through the kitchen door. Everyone looked expectantly at them, but the looks on their face told everyone that the news they had was not good.

"How did it go?" ventured Mr. Weasley anyway.

"Get dressed and come inside," said Remus, shaking his head in response.

* * *

Everyone put their clothes on over top of their bathing suits. It only took a few minutes to get the younger ones situated in the living room while the Order met in the kitchen. Leo told them that Piper, Phoebe, and Paige hadn't come back with them because they had to attend to some things at home. Word had been sent to Hogwarts and Dumbledore, McGonagall, the founders, and Merlin arrived in a matter of minutes. The few missing Order members would be filled in at the meeting later that night.

They sat around the table or stood leaning against the counter, in every spot they could find, some of them still dripping slightly, and waited for one of the four remaining emissaries to begin their tale. Moody spoke up first as soon as everyone appeared situated and Sirius stopped tapping his foot against the counter like a small child. "When we got there…" began Moody.

"Wait, Mad-Eye," said Jen. "Uh… Molly, James, and Vivien are all listening at the door."

"WE ARE NOT!" exclaimed Vivien's voice, and then there were two thuds and a curse word and James and Molly's voices hissing reproaches.

"GO BACK IN THE LIVING ROOM WITH YOUR COUSINS!" called Ginny, in a voice that sounded highly reminiscent of Mrs. Weasley's when she used to rebuke Fred and George.

They heard three sets of feet pounding, which gradually grew less audible, as if they had walked down the hallway. "Were we supposed to be fooled by that?" asked Ron.

Cati pointed her wand at the door, which swung outward. "OUCH!" screamed three voices as one.

"Get in here," said Cadance, rolling her eyes. James, Molly, and Vivien walked in, rubbing their faces, which obviously had been hit by the door as it swung open. "If you're going to listen anyway, you're going to listen proper."

"They're too young," hissed Hermione.

"We're 17!" exclaimed Molly and James at the exact same time Cadance said exasperatedly, "They're 17."

"When you were 17, I…" Cadance trailed off, looking at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "You weren't left out of anything."

"It was different," said Harry.

"Only because you want it to be," said Cadance. "I fought it with Melinda, and she found out everything that was going on anyway. So will they. You would have, too."

"What about that one?" asked Ron, pointing at Vivien. "She's 12."

"Obviously, Cati is going to give her permission to stay," said Cadance. Bill opened his mouth as if to protest, but Cati shot him a look and he closed it. James, Molly, and Vivien found spots in the kitchen near to Wyatt, looking rather pleased with themselves.

"If you three expect to be included more in Order things, you'd better start acting like you can handle it," said Cadance. "Continue, Mad-Eye."

Moody's magical eye spun around to see James, Molly, and Vivien, as though checking to make sure they were ready for him to continue, before he spoke up again. "We got there about fifteen minutes early, and were served coffee and donuts and bagels, and it was all very cordial. The President arrived to the meeting about fifteen minutes late, escorted by his Defense Secretary, which would be comparable to the Head Auror here. In the meantime we all sat with various other undersecretaries and we talked about trivial things like Quidditch… kept it polite."

"We were feeling pretty good going into the meeting because of how smoothly everything went beforehand," said Remus. "But when the President showed up, it was clear that America wasn't open to getting involved. He seemed appropriately sympathetic, but this Defense Secretary barely acknowledged us and as he listened to us say what we came to say, he watched with absolutely no expression. When we had finished telling them what we were up against, the President said as politely as he could that he was sorry but he couldn't get involved. We argued with him for a bit, but it was a firm no."

"We told them that it was only a matter of time before Voldemort extended his reach to America," said Moody. "We told him that Voldemort could infiltrate his government and he wouldn't even know it. He said he'd put his faith in his security."

"So, what do we do now?" asked Sirius, turning to Arthur for an answer. Arthur shook his head and rubbed his temples.

Suddenly, there was a deafening _crack!_ from the center of the kitchen, as though someone has Apparated inside. Everyone quickly drew their wands and turned towards where the sound had come from, just as a wailing noise filled the kitchen, accompanied by intermittent thuds.

Everyone stared in shock at the House-elf that was currently banging its head off of the floor of the kitchen while crying. "BAD! BAD! BAD!!"

"What the..." trailed off Wendy. Immediately, Hermione flung herself on the floor next to the House-elf and tried to stop him from punishing himself.

"Krumpet?!" exclaimed Cadance, peering curiously at the elf. "Krumpet!" The Elf stopped and looked up at Cadance.

"Miss Cadance!" he exclaimed. "I… I…" He began crying and his head once again made contact with Sirius's floor.

"What the hell is going on?" asked Wyatt, as people began plugging their ears to the sound of elf wails. Hermione continued to try to restrain Krumpet, and Cadance had gotten up to help her.

"I met him when I was undercover," explained Cadance loudly, competing with Krumpet to be heard. "Bob and I used him to get messages to each other. He's Bellatrix's House-elf."

"Bellatrix's…" said Sirius, staring curiously at the elf. "Hey, wait a minute! That's Krumpet, my mother's House-elf!"

"What?" asked Harry. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah! He must have gone to my cousins after my mother died and I ended up in Azkaban," said Sirius.

"But you're out of Azkaban, so shouldn't he technically be…" began Ron pointing from Sirius to Krumpet, who was still wailing.

"Krumpet! Krumpet!" exclaimed Sirius, trying to get his attention. The elf looked up at him, and his watery eyes grew wider as he recognized him. "Krumpet, stop hitting your head off the floor and sit up!"

Hermione looked as if she was going to rebuke Sirius for his harsh tone for a second, but then changed her mind when Krumpet obeyed and was no longer injuring himself. He even began to dry his eyes on the filthy rag he was wearing. "It's okay, we won't hurt you," said Hermione gently, patting him on the back.

"Krumpet's not supposed to be here!" cried Krumpet. "Krumpet is a bad bad elf!"

"Krumpet, what _are_ you doing here?" asked Cadance.

"Krumpet overheard Miss Bella talking and wanted to help his friend Miss Cadance because she was so nice to him, but if Miss Bella knew Krumpet was here, he would be punished!" exclaimed Krumpet.

"Krumpet, no more crying now, do you hear?" ordered Sirius. Krumpet nodded and immediately began to hold back his tears.

"Sirius, he has to listen to you! He's still your elf! Your family's elf!" exclaimed Cadance, comprehension dawning on her face. "_That's_ why he was able to help Bob and I pass messages behind Bellatrix's back… We'd wondered. She wasn't his _true_ mistress; just another of your relatives!"

Sirius looked from Krumpet to Cadance then back again, in an effort to formulate a plan. His eyes fell on Joseph's swim trunks, which were draped over the back of one of the chairs to dry. A smile crossed his face, as he realized what he had to do. He snatched the trunks and tossed them at Krumpet, where they landed on his head. He reached up and pealed them off and looked up at Sirius with big eyes.

"Krumpet, you're free," said Sirius. "You don't have to punish yourself anymore." Krumpet's eyes filled with tears again as he got up off the floor and ran to Sirius, hugging his legs.

"Oh, thank you, Master Sirius! Thank you!"

"I thought I said no more crying," said Sirius, patting his head awkwardly.

"But Krumpet doesn't have to obey anymore, does he sir?" asked Krumpet, looking up and giving a mischievous grin.

"Er… Krumpet? Was there something you wanted to tell me?" interrupted Cadance.

"Yes, yes, Miss Cadance," said Krumpet turning to her, replacing his grin with a very serious expression. "Krumpet overheard Miss Bella when he was cleaning the oven! Miss Bella was telling her sister that the Order of the Phoenix went to the Americans today to ask for help, and Krumpet listened hard to see if he could hear anything about Miss Cadance, who was so nice to him when she was staying there. But instead, Krumpet heard that the Americans turned the Order down just like Miss Bella knew they would, because Miss Bella knows there is a Death Eater close to the President. The Death Eater reported back to Miss Bella as soon as the Order left, Miss!"

"So Voldemort got to them first," said Cadance, heaving a sigh and looking round at the Order members.

"That's not all, Miss!" exclaimed Krumpet. "You told Krumpet that if you were to return to Hogwarts, he was not to contact you, for his own safety. Krumpet would not have disobeyed unless he thought it was really important, Miss!"

"What is it?" asked Cadance.

"The Death Eaters plan on fully taking over the Americans, Miss! They plan on using their votes in the International Confederation of Wizards to legitimize Voldemort's power! They will attack them tonight, Miss!" exclaimed Krumpet.

The silence that followed Krumpet's statement was deafening.

"Uh, is it time to send Cati in yet?" asked Wyatt after a few seconds. Everyone turned to look at Cati, who cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh, _now_ you want some help with this American Congress thing," she said rolling her eyes.

Cadance, meanwhile, looked contemplative. She was still kneeling next to Krumpet to be eye-level with him. She slapped her knees and stood up, a look of resolve on her face.

"What are you thinking?" asked Charlie, who was relieved that at least she wasn't wearing the grin that he associated with her bad ideas.

"I'm going to need Arthur and Harry and Minerva to leave the room," said Cadance.

"What?! Why?" asked Harry, incredulously.

"Because if this goes poorly, and the Death Eaters succeed in taking over the American government, and we get caught, then this is going to be a big international incident, and it would probably be best if the Minister of Magic, the Head Auror, and the Headmistress of Hogwarts aren't implicated in front of the International Confederation of Wizards' tribunal full of Voldemort's puppets," said Cadance.

Mr. Weasley and McGonagall exchanged a look. Harry, however, had his face set and determined. "I'm in," he said. "Whatever it is, I'm in."

"If you get arrested and dragged in front of the International Court…" began Cadance.

"I'll count on one of you to break me out," finished Harry.

"I'm your man," said Sirius, grinning.

Cadance turned to look at Mr. Weasley and McGonagall. Mr. Weasley shrugged. "I've got diplomatic immunity," he said.

"Minerva?" asked Cadance.

"Someone's got to keep an eye on you," said Minerva. "Count me in, too."

"Alright," said Cadance. "If anyone wants to bow out, now's the time. I'm talking to you, people with small children who need looking after."

"Don't be ridiculous," said Jen, shaking her head. "However, I would like to say that if George and I both end up captured, arrested, and/or killed, I would rather Molly and Arthur get the kids. And if that's not a viable option, Remus is my next choice."

"Hey!" exclaimed Cadance. "What about me?! I'm your sister!"

"Yeah, and I'm your brother-in-law!" exclaimed Ron.

"And I'm your husband's sister-in-law!" exclaimed Cati. "Or your brother-in-law's wife… however you want to see it."

"Alright, look, Hermione and Ron get them if Remus can't take them, but _only_ if Hermione isn't captured," said Jen. George nodded in agreement. "The rest of you are nuts."

"What if _I'm_ captured?" asked Ron. "Does that mean Hermione can't have them?" Jen and George hesitated and looked away. "Hey!"

"Ginny gets them if Hermione's out," said George, nodding.

Wyatt raised his hand. "Who has to get captured for me to get them?" he asked. Leo whacked him in the back of the head.

"There's absolutely no time for this," said Cadance, putting her hands up. "And there's no time to get the rest of the Order in on this, so we're working with who we have here. Krumpet, do you know what time the Death Eaters are planning on attacking?"

"No, Miss," said Krumpet, shaking his head. "Krumpet just heard that it would be later tonight."

"Later on tonight would be the late afternoon there," said Harry. "Five hour time difference."

"They're not going to want to kill many people," said Cadance, thinking aloud. "They're going to want to place them under the Imperius Curse. They'll attack when they think they could get to as many higher-level people as they can."

"There's a meeting this afternoon," said Arabella. "Before our meeting this morning, I overheard two blokes talking about it. Seems like lots of important people are going to be there."

"Time?" asked Cadance.

Arabella paused, thinking for a second. "4:30. Same time as the Quidditch match. That's why they were complaining about it," she answered.

"We've got to get to them before that meeting," said Cadance. "Warn them. Tell them what we know."

"President Thomas said he has faith in his security," said Remus. "Nothing we said _then_ made a different; what makes you think that hearing it _now_ will make him change his mind."

"I don't. But…" Cadance trailed off, as if wondering how carefully she should pick her next words. "Cati and I happen to know a thing or two about layout of the Capitol building."

Cati broke out into a grin and stared into the ceiling as if remembering something. "Oh yeah."

Remus sighed. "I'll do it. It's my turn," he said, turning to Cadance and Cati. "Why do you know the layout of the Capitol building?"

"Look, do you rally support for the Anti-Voldemort movement, or do you want to hear a really long story about a crush that Cati and I may or may not have had on this Congressional Wizard from Ohio?"

* * *

John Thomas sat behind his desk in his spacious office, preparing for the meeting. As President of the American Wizarding government, he was quite busy which was why he was in the office on a Saturday. Already today he had signed into law two bills and he had a meeting with his advisors and some senior congressmen in less than an hour. And of course, this morning he had a meeting with the Wizards from Britain's Ministry. He had known they would contact him eventually, but that didn't make it any easier for him to turn them down. He was under particular scrutiny, as he had barely been in office a year, and was the 2nd youngest wizard to be elected president in over a century. The youngest had been impeached after just six months.

He was looking over some reports when his secretary walked in, looking flustered. "Sir, I'm afraid there're some people here demanding to see you immediately."

"Grace, we don't just let anyone in who wants to see me," he said, adopting a parenting tone. She was young and new to the job, just like him.

"I know, sir, but it's Minister Weasley," she said. "And there are a few people with him."

"Send them in," said President Thomas, standing and adjusting his suit. "And send in some refreshments." He walked over to the seating area of his office and took a seat on the couch, wondering what the Minister of Magic could want, considering it was after 9:00 in Britain.

The door opened again and Grace led in four people and, to his surprise, one House-elf. He stood to receive them, smiling warmly as a diplomat should. "Minister," said Thomas, giving Mr. Weasley a nod as they joined him in the seating area.

"President Thomas," said Mr. Weasley, shaking his hand. "I'm sorry we haven't met before now but, as I'm sure you are aware, we've been a bit busy across the pond."

"Ah, yes," said Thomas. "I _have_ heard."

"This is Harry Potter, my Head Auror," said Mr. Weasley pointing at Harry. "And this is Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Cadance Dumbledore, Head of the Order of the Phoenix." They all exchanged handshakes and then Thomas indicated that they should take a seat. Mr. Weasley and Thomas sat on one couch, while Harry sat in an armchair and McGonagall and Cadance sat on the other couch. Krumpet hovered in the background until Cadance beckoned him over to the couch and he climbed up in between McGonagall and Cadance.

"Well, what can I do for you?" asked Thomas.

"I think you know why we're here," said Mr. Weasley. "The same reason our friends were here this afternoon… er, morning for you."

"I figured," said Thomas with a sigh. "Minister, I'm afraid that my answer is still a firm and resounding 'no.' The wizards and witches of America are not interested in going to war with a Dark Lord who bears no threat to them."

"You think he's just going to stop then, Mr. President?" asked McGonagall. "You think he's just going to be satisfied once he's taken over Britain? No, sir, it's the whole Wizarding world he's after."

"Well, that's not how we see it," said Thomas. "My people tell me that Voldemort has no interest in America.'

"And mine tell me that he's already here," said Cadance. "You've got a mole."

"Impossible," said Thomas, waving his hand dismissively.

"I assure you, President Thomas, we have it on good authority that there is a Death Eater placed close to you and that before the day is out, the Capitol will come under attack," said Arthur.

"Preposterous! How do you know this?" asked Thomas. Cadance and McGonagall glanced down at Krumpet sitting in between them. The President let out a snort. "A House-elf! Have you let them go wild up there in England then?" Krumpet seemed to shrink a little.

"Mr. President, Krumpet here overheard a Death Eater who was careless enough to talk freely about their plans in front of a servant that wasn't truly hers," said Harry. "They want to take over the International Confederation of Wizards, and they need control of your government to do it. Our emissaries warned you today that they might come and they were right. The Death Eaters _will_ come. Voldemort is a very real threat."

"We happen to be in one of the most secure buildings on the face of the planet. Gringotts may be the only place safer," said President Thomas insistently. "It is nearly impossible to get in without being detected!"

"Is it?" asked Cadance, a grin playing across her face.

"Yes!"

Suddenly President Thomas felt himself get grabbed from behind. He gave a yelp and someone from behind him said, "_Nearly_ impossible isn't really good enough, is it?"

"Er, President Thomas, I'd like to introduce you to my daughter-in-law Cati," said Mr. Weasley. Thomas was released and Cati walked around to the front of the couch.

"Nice to meet you, sir," she said, holding her hand out, and tucking her wand away. Thomas reached out dazedly and shook it, looking curiously at her.

Harry was looking down at his pocket watch. "Seven minutes, Cate. Not bad."

"Mr. President, she broke in and made it to your office in less than ten minutes. And that was without using dark magic," said Cadance. Cati cleared her throat and looked up at the ceiling in what she was hoping was a sort of non-guilty kind of look. Cadance glanced at her and then turned back to the President. "Cati broke into your office in less than ten minutes using _minimal amounts_ of dark magic." She glanced back over at Cati, who nodded in agreement.

"I…"trailed off Thomas, looking around hopelessly at all of them. He was at a loss for words.

"I'm hungry," said Cati, tapping her foot impatiently, looking oblivious to how uncomfortable Thomas was with the turn of events.

"Uhh… Grace should be bringing in some refreshments any minute now," said Thomas, in part so that maybe they would think he had control over some of the situation.

"Is that your secretary?" asked Cati. Thomas nodded. "Damnit, I stunned her. Alright, I'll be right back." She bounced off to the door.

"Catalin, we can get something to eat when we're finished here," said McGonagall exasperatedly, as Cati opened the door wide.

"Hey, look who it is!" exclaimed Cati, stepping back from the door to make room as Remus, Sirius, James and Molly walked in ushering two people ahead of them at wand-point. "That was fast!"

"Well, we found these two in the hallway," explained Sirius.

"It was AWESOME!" exclaimed Molly excitedly. "Remus did this strange sort of wave with his wand, and the carpet tripped them up!"

"This is the Head of the Committee on Public Relations and this other fellow is the Secretary of Defense," said Remus, pointing from one of their pseudo-captives to the other. "They were on their way to the meeting."

"Mr. President, I…" began the Defense Secretary, before Thomas cut him off.

"It's alright, we're not _really_ being held hostage," said Thomas, holding up a hand. "The Minister here is just trying to prove a point." Sure enough, Remus and Sirius had already pocketed their wands.

Thomas looked to Mr. Weasley, as if silently asking when it would end. However, Mr. Weasley pointed to James and Molly and said, "Two of my grandchildren. And you know Remus Lupin, of course. And that's Sirius Black, you may recognize the name from when he was convicted of murdering more than a dozen people and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban about 35 years ago." Thomas's jaw dropped and he looked over at Sirius.

"How you doing?" asked Sirius with a grin a wink. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Where are the others?" asked McGonagall.

"Oh, they're around," said Sirius, dismissively, squeezing onto the couch in between Krumpet, who didn't take up much room at all, and Cadance.

"This is _not_ proper International Relations," said the Defense Secretary.

"We tried the diplomatic approach," said McGonagall. "Now we're doing it… well, the way we tried to avoid by not sending _Cati_ in the first place."

"We _cannot_ be bullied into changing our position," said the Defense Secretary. "And we _will_ _not_ look like we went down without a fight." He whipped out his wand.

"You're outnumbered, you _idiot_," said Cadance, as she and her fellow Order Members pulled their wands out and pointed them at him. Molly and James looked positively ecstatic.

Thomas put his hand on his Defense Secretary's wand arm, forcing it down. "That's enough, Jake."

He paused, and then pocked his wand, and the Order lowered theirs, but did not put them away. "Look, just because you managed to break your way in, that doesn't mean that Death Eaters are going to…" began Thomas, before he was interrupted by a ruckus from outside, then the pounding of feet.

Suddenly, Jen, George, Bill, Charlie, and Wyatt all ran in with 4 more American wizards, all with wands drawn. "So… what's new?" asked Cati, casually, as Bill slammed the door shut and magically locked it.

"Well, we were just kidnapping these chaps here," said Jen, gesturing to the American wizards. "Then all of a sudden in popped a few Death Eaters. And this place is a real maze! We blasted a hole in one of the walls to get here!"

Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?!" asked Cati. Several people groaned and rolled their eyes, and Bill clapped his hand over Cati's mouth.

"Arthur," said Cadance. She grabbed a magazine off of the coffee table and pointed her wand at it. It began to glow blue. "Get the President out of here. We'll find you when this is over." She tossed the magazine at him. He grabbed onto Thomas's arm just before he caught the magazine. There was a _pop_ and Arthur and Thomas were gone.

A split-second later, the door was blasted off his hinges. About ten Death Eaters walked in, wands drawn. The paused for a second, taking in the fact that they were terribly outnumbered by the 11 Order members, six Americans, two teenagers, and one House-Elf. "Sorry, mates, we got here first," said Sirius.

"But _how_?" hissed one. Krumpet peaked out from behind Sirius's legs.

"YOU!" shrieked one on the far side, stepping forward and removing her mask.

"Ah, Bellatrix," said Sirius, shaking his head. "It's been a while."

"How did you manage to _steal_ my elf, cousin?" she asked, her tone dangerous.

"He wasn't _your_ elf," said Sirius. "And now he's nobody's."

"You really should have watched what you said around him," said Cadance, shaking her head.

"Look, you're horribly outnumbered, and our kids are here so we _really_ don't want to duel you right here anyway, so why don't you just leave the way you came?" asked Harry. "This way we won't have to file an incident report with the International Confederation of Wizards explaining _why_ we arrested and/or killed you on American soil."

"We _will_ get the American government. You _will_ fail," hissed Bellatrix.

Before anyone could open their mouth to retort, all the Death Eaters Apparated out.

"Well," said George, as they all finally lowered their wands. "That was fun."

"It's not over yet," said Jen. "There's still the mole in this office."

"Well, obviously the Death Eater is this fellow here," said Harry, pointing his wand at the Defense Secretary. There was a split-second pause then the Defense Secretary pulled his wand out as well.

"_Stupefy_!" shouted Wyatt, who was standing right behind him. The Defense Secretary hit the ground, stunned.

"I _told_ you that you were outnumbered," said Cadance, looking down at his still form and shaking her head.

Remus bent down and pushed up the sleeve of the Defense Secretary's robes, to reveal the Dark Mark. "How did you know?" asked Remus.

"He was twitchy and nervous when he pulled his wand on us earlier," said Harry, shaking his head. "And he kept grabbing his forearm, where the Dark Mark would have been."

Just then, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Arabella walked in with 3 more American hostages, surveying the damage to the door curiously. They looked at the man stunned on the floor, then back up at everyone else. "Hey, you know someone blew up this wall out here?" asked Ron, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.

"There were some Death Eaters," said Remus. "It's a long story."

"Oh, did they stun him then?" asked Hermione, pointing at the stunned Defense Secretary.

"He's the mole," explained Jen. "What should we do with him?"

"We'll take care of him," said one of the American wizards, who Remus had introduced earlier as the Head of the Committee on Public Relations.

"Then we should probably just go and get Arthur and tell him and President Thomas that it's all over," said Harry. "Did you send them to Hogwarts?"

"Oh, no," said Cadance, breaking out into a grin. Charlie groaned. _That_ was the look that he associated with her bad ideas. "I sent them to the one place where I _knew_ the Death Eaters would never go looking for them."

* * *

"What the hell is this place?" asked Ron, a look of disgust on his face as they looked around at the children running around, seemingly unsupervised, back and forth between arcade games and a series of large tubes that snaked around the entire establishment close to the ceiling.

"Chuck E. Cheese," said Cadance, matter-of-factly.

"Why did they stamp our hands?" asked Charlie. "And why can't I see it anymore?"

"BALL PIT!" exclaimed Cati pointing. She started to run off towards it when Bill grabbed her by the back of her robes.

"No, no," he said. "You're on duty."

They spotted Mr. Weasley and President Thomas sitting in a booth in a corner, a half-eaten pizza in between them. They walked over to them. "Well?" asked Mr. Weasley. He took a bite of his pizza.

"The Death Eaters are gone, and your Secretary of Defense is stunned on the floor of the President's office," said Harry. Thomas raised an eyebrow at him. "He's a Death Eater. Your Head of Public Relations will fill you in."

"So that's it then," said Mr. Weasley, sighing in relief.

"No it is _not_," said Cati emphatically. "_Someone_ promised me that we could get food after this." She looked at McGonagall.

"Fine. Grab a table."

"And let's buy a pizza for those two," said Cati, pointing at two girls sitting in a booth. "What's your names?"

They hesitated a moment and then one answered, "I'm Kassy, and she's Kaitylen."

"Why are we buying them a pizza?" asked Harry, tapping Cati on the shoulder.

"Because they reviewed the last chapter," said Cati, matter-of-factly. Cadance nodded in agreement.

"What?" asked Harry.

"Just roll with it."

* * *

Submit a review for this chapter and you could get food in the next chapter, too!


	30. Not a good start to the school year

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as someone else's

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize as someone else's.

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Kaitylen, for going through and reading and reviewing every chapter in about 3 days.

* * *

And so… after playing 'rock, paper, scissors' to determine who had to drag Cati out of the ball pit… they left Chuck E. Cheese and returned to Sirius's house. Krumpet experienced a rather tearful reunion with his long-lost cousin Dobby. Sirius and Wendy offered Krumpet their spare room, and he burst into another fit of tears. Freddy and Joseph pouted because Cati got to play in a ball pit and they didn't.

Melinda and Chris came back from their honeymoon a few days later. Things began to wind down for the Order of the Phoenix, as the new school year approached. Also, ever since the Death Eaters' embarrassment at the American Capitol, the Aurors had hardly been called in for any Death Eater-caused disturbances. They certainly hadn't seen any high-profile Death Eaters since.

But as things quieted down for Harry, he had more time to think. And the more he thought about the things that happened the in the last two chapters, the more he was concerned about Cadance's decision regarding Bob Reynolds. The fact that Cati got that insane look in her eyes when Cadance had mentioned that Bob Reynolds would be teaching at Hogwarts permanently was reason enough to be leery of the appointment. However, even without that, Harry still had plenty more reasons not to trust Bob Reynolds.

Harry sat in his office thinking about it for a while until he decided he couldn't sit there any longer. He got up and walked out, calling to his secretary to reschedule his afternoon appointments as he passed her.

He Apparated into Hogsmeade and walked up to the castle. As he entered the castle, he could hear Cati's laugh ringing from the Great Hall. He didn't run into anyone in the hallways since the school was practically deserted, and in no time at all he was standing in front of the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to the Headmaster's office.

"_Stamus contra malum_," said Harry, and the gargoyle hopped out of the way. Harry stepped onto the staircase as it wound slowly and quietly upwards towards McGonagall's office.

Once he reached the top, he saw that her door was cracked and he could hear voices coming from inside. He paused in front of the door, his curiosity aroused. He stayed as quiet as he could as he listened to the voices within.

"If he gave us a _reason_, Cadance…" he heard McGonagall say.

"Who cares about that now?" Cadance interrupted. She sounded weary. "It doesn't matter _why_ he did it."

"I'd certainly feel better about allowing him to teach here if I had an excuse… _any excuse_… for why he left our side in the first place," said McGonagall.

Harry held his breathe and tried not to make a sound. Perfect timing. They were discussing the exact thing he had come here to talk about with McGonagall. He thought about knocking on the door, announcing his presence, then but decided to hold out for another minute, curious as to what he would hear.

"It doesn't matter _why_ he left our side, Minerva," Cadance said. "He's back now."

"I'm concerned that you're willing to trust Bob Reynolds because one day, 40 years ago, _your uncle_ placed that same trust in a young Death Eater…"

"What's so wrong with that?" interrupted Cadance, again. "We're _the good guys_, Minerva. Sometimes, we give second chances."

"Please just tell me that you realize that there are _differences_ between Bob Reynolds and Severus," said McGonagall, a hint of pleading in her voice. "Severus was _young_ and swayed by his classmates! Bob was our _Head Auror_ and…"

"I _know_, Minerva," hissed Cadance. There was a pause, then Cadance added, "It's not about trusting Severus… It's not about trusting Death Eaters… it's about trusting _Bob Reynolds_. I do trust him; in spite of everything."

There was another pause, then McGonagall said, "Alright. We'll make arrangements to move him from the safe house to Hogwarts this week."

"Thank you," said Cadance.

"Harry's not going to like it," said McGonagall.

"Right, about that…" trailed off Cadance. Suddenly Harry reeled backwards in pain, seeing spots, as the door burst open and hit him in the face. He let out a string of swear words, then stumbled into the room, clutching his nose.

"A little old for eavesdropping, aren't we?" asked Cadance. Harry blinked his eyes until his vision cleared. McGonagall was at her desk, a neutral expression on her face. Cadance was draped over a chair, her wand twirling between her fingers. She winked at him and he sat down in the other chair in front of McGonagall's desk.

"There is a _fine line_ between good and evil, Cadance," said Harry, continuing to rub his nose.

"Not as fine as you would think," said Cadance, pocketing her wand.

"I wasn't _trying_ to eavesdrop," said Harry, figuring there was no point in denying that he was eavesdropping altogether. "I was just… listening."

"And why are you gracing us with your presence when I'm sure the Auror Department is pining away for you?" asked McGonagall.

Harry inclined his head to Cadance, and raised his eyebrows, but didn't say anything. He didn't need to.

"Aw, Geez, Harry," said Cadance, shaking her head and heaving a sigh. "We've gone over this Bob Reynolds thing already."

"I wanted to get Professor McGonagall's impressions on the topic," said Harry. "I think she's right… we need a reason."

"Alright, that's it," said Cadance, getting to her feet and fixing Harry with her most severe _I'm-about-to-give-you-detention_ stare. "Look, Potter. Let me break things down for you." She started ticking items off on her fingers. "I'm a professor at Hogwarts, the Deputy Headmistress, a Major in the Auror Department, AND I'm in charge of the Order of the Phoenix. I've got lesson plans that aren't completed for classes that are starting in two weeks. Salazar Slytherin married and then murdered my ancestor who happens to be my past life, which seems to be biting me in the ass. I just spent two months undercover in Voldemort's lair, and to be honest, I've never been so scared in my life. Yesterday, while in the shower, I figured out that if you add it all up, Voldemort's been around for 18 out of the 45 years that I've been alive. That's 40 of my life. And then yesterday, Cati did something bad, and I don't want to tattle on her, so let's just say that afterwards, she actually used the sentence 'I can't believe that frog exploded like that.' I've had a _roller coaster_ of a year, what with first thinking we lost Sirius, then Cati, then Melinda, and then getting them all back at one time, and then going undercover and then coming back and my daughter getting married. And _now_…" She finally paused to catch her breathe, and Harry flinched a little, waiting for what was coming. "_Now_ you come to me with 'oh, I don't trust this Bob Reynolds guy'! This is very stressful for me, Harry! I don't like it one bit!"

"Geez, sorry!" said Harry, rolling his eyes. "I've just got a lot on my mind, too, what with _the Dark Lord_ trying to kill me, and running the Aurors, and trying to fight Death Eaters and all! And now you've got a Death Eater positioned in Hogwarts ready to _teach_. A Death Eater will be teaching _my _son—_your _nephew, mind you—and _our_ nieces. But by all means, throw a hissy fit when I ask you for proof that he's not going to murder them all in their beds. I'm sorry that my apparently _irrational_ worries have gotten in the way of your lesson plans and _vacation time_."

Cadance opened her mouth, then immediately closed it again and narrowed her eyes at Harry. She paused for a second then said, "Ouch, Potter. Just…ouch."

"Don't try to throw down with me, honey," said Harry, pointing his finger at her. "I've had a rough year, too."

McGonagall was looking back and forth between Harry and Cadance, with her eyebrow cocked. "Something you'd like to add, Minerva?" asked Cadance.

"Where did the frog explode?"

Cadance ignored her and turned to Harry. "You have to trust me, Harry. I promise, he's changed." They locked eyes for a second and then Harry sighed.

"I'm keeping a close eye on him," he insisted.

"Absolutely."

* * *

Cadance and Charlie were talking animatedly as they were walking down the hallway the next day, on their way to dinner.

"Are you kidding me?!" exclaimed Cadance. "That was a GREAT movie!"

"It wasn't _that_ great!" argued Charlie. "I mean, that ending… didn't you just wish that Ben Affleck died on that meteor? Why did Bruce Willis have to die?!"

"Charlie, he was sacrificing himself for his daughter's happiness," said Cadance.

"Well, I'd stay on the meteor to save Chris to make Melinda happy, but I definitely wouldn't if Liv Tyler were my daughter," said Charlie, shaking his head. "And what's with that smart guy?!"

"What smart guy?" asked Cadance.

"The guy who says the president's advisors are wrong! The British guy!"

"You mean Jason Isaacs?" asked Cadance. "What about him?"

"He gives me the creeps… almost as if I know him from somewhere and I _do not_ like him."

"Look, next time we're at Jen's house, we're going to watch _Armageddon_, so that you can realize that you're wrong," said Cadance, shaking her head and pulling open the door to the Great Hall. As soon as they walked in they were greeted with a shout.

"HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!"

They both jumped, looking startled. Cadance armed herself with a fireball, reflexively. Then they noticed their family and a lot of the Order of the Phoenix sitting in the Great Hall.

"What?" asked Cadance extinguishing the fireball and staring at them strangely.

"Happy Anniversary!" exclaimed a few of them again.

Cadance and Charlie looked at each other. "Is it our anniversary?" asked Charlie.

"How long have we been married?" asked Cadance.

"I don't know; what year is it?" asked Charlie.

"It's your 20th Wedding Anniversary and hurry up and get over here so we can dig into this cake," said Bill.

"We made it 20 years?" asked Cadance, breaking out into a smile. "Hell yeah! I didn't think we'd live that long!"

"High Five!" exclaimed Charlie. They slapped hands then walked to the table.

"Did you seriously not remember that it's your anniversary?" asked Sirius, cocking an eyebrow at them as they took a seat.

"Pretty much," said Cadance.

"Yeah, now I know it's my anniversary, but I _still _don't know what date it is," said Charlie, as they all dug into the food.

"It's the 22nd, dear," said Cadance.

"It's the 21st!" exclaimed Jen.

"Oh, that's right," said Cadance.

"Do you know when your birthday is?" asked Freddy, piping up as Jen tucked a napkin in his shirt so he wouldn't get food all over himself.

"Sure, it's in May," said Cadance.

"Your birthday's in June, Cadance," said Charlie.

"Then who's birthday is in May?" asked Cadance.

"Not yours."

"I can't believe you're part of the Wizarding World's last line of defense against Voldemort," said Chris, shaking his head.

"Yeah, well, your kids are going to have my genes. Good luck."

* * *

"Jen!" called Cadance as she and Charlie walked through the front door of her house, the next evening.

"In here!" returned Jen from the living room. They could hear the TV. They wiped their feet and then rounded the corner into the living room. Jen, George, Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, Sirius, Remus, and Wendy were all intently focused on the television.

"What do you need, Cadance?" asked Jen, not pulling her focus from the TV.

"I wanted to make Charlie watch _Armageddon_ because I don't think he appreciates it properly," said Cadance.

"Sure, as soon as this is over," said Jen.

"What are you watching?" asked Cadance.

"We're watching _Sweeney Todd_. Shhh, it's almost over," hissed Jen.

"_Sweeney Todd_?" asked Charlie. He was promptly shushed by everyone. They stood quietly and watched as Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter danced around in a cellar-like room.

"_And life is for the alive my dear! So let's keep living it… Really living it! Really living it!"_

"Hey, isn't that guy…? HOLY CRAP, CAPTAIN JACK SPARROW JUST COOKED THAT WOMAN!!" exclaimed Cadance. "What the hell kind of movie is this?!"

"SHHHH!" hissed Jen, tossing a throw pillow at her. Cadance and Charlie sat down with everyone else. They watched for another minute or so.

"What is that little kid doing?" asked Cadance. "Run, Johnny Depp! Run!!"

"This is why we don't invite you to movie night," said Sirius.

"Merlin's beard, this movie is a bloodbath!" exclaimed Cadance as the credits started to roll.

"You have no idea," said Rowena, shaking her head. "They just killed off half the characters in the last few minutes."

"I know I'm supposed to feel bad that Sweeney Todd killed off Mrs. Lovett," said Sirius, pointing at the screen and looking pensive, "but I really am quite relieved that she's gone."

"Yeah, I had this strange feeling that I _knew_ her… and didn't like her," said Wendy.

"That's the feeling I get when I watch _Armageddon_ and I see that creepy smart British guy!" exclaimed Charlie, poking Cadance in the shoulder.

"What creepy British guy? Oh! You mean the one from _The Patriot_?! Yeah, I hate that guy!" exclaimed George. "I don't know what it is, but I get a bad vibe from him."

"I think you're all nuts," said Jen, rolling her eyes.

"Well," said Remus, as he watched the end credits, "I think we can all agree that Cati can never see this movie." Everyone who had seen the whole thing murmured in agreement.

"Wait, why?" asked Cadance.

"Well, for one, we don't need her learning a new way to kill people without leaving a trace," said Remus. Cadance scrunched up her face in confusion.

"Sweeney Todd slits people's throats and Mrs. Lovett bakes them in pies," explained Jen.

"Oh, yeah, we better keep her away from that," said Charlie, shaking his head.

"Plus, Alan Rickman dies. You know she has an odd attachment to him," said Remus. "I can't imagine why."

"Could it be because of _Galaxy Quest_? That was an _awesome_ movie," said Sirius.

"Who cares… put in _Armageddon_."

* * *

Harry arranged for Bob Reynolds to be moved from the safe house to Hogwarts, although he was still reluctant. His doubts were shared by most of the rest of the Professors when they returned to Hogwarts a week before classes started back up. However, on Cadance and McGonagall's assurance that he could be trusted, they treated him civilly.

Two days before classes were to start back up, Harry went to Hogwarts to speak with McGonagall about security at King's Cross and Hogsmeade Station to ensure the students' safe return to school. They were discussing it while walking throughout the castle; McGonagall had to check to make sure that everything was ready for the start of the term.

"Sirius and Remus will take a squad and remain outside of the platform at King's Cross. They'll all be dressed as muggles," said Harry, as they finished checking the 4th floor.

"If Death Eaters are at King's Cross, they'll recognize Sirius and Remus, whether they're dressed as muggles or not," said McGonagall.

"They're going to know that we've got security there anyway," said Harry. "They won't be able to pick out _all_ of our Aurors, at any rate."

"What about _on_ the train?" asked McGonagall.

"I'll be on the platform with most of the Order," said Harry. "We'll board the train with the students. Then, once we leave the station, Sirius and Remus and their Aurors will get on broomsticks and follow the train all the way to Hogwarts, where you and the rest of the teachers will be there to meet it, along with the Aurors stationed in Hogsmeade and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix."

McGonagall was about to tell Harry she approved of the plan when they ran into Cadance and Dumbledore on the stairs. "The first three floors are set," said Dumbledore. "Severus and Charlie are checking the dungeons."

"Everything above the 4th floor is ready, too," said McGonagall, as they all started down the stairs together. "Harry was just telling me the plan for the students' arrival."

As they reached the landing above the Entrance Hall, they were joined by Bob Reynolds, who was fastening a traveling cloak around his neck. "On your way out, Bob-a-roonie?" asked Cadance.

"I'll be back," said Bob, nodding.

"Okay, Bobinator. See you at dinner," said Cadance. Bob swept down the stairs in front of them and exited the castle.

"What was that about?" asked Harry, looking at Cadance.

"Oh, Cati and I usually call Bob by some sort of weird nickname…"

"I mean, why did you let the supposedly-former Death Eater leave so mysteriously without asking where he was going?" asked Harry.

"I'm going to go check on dinner," said McGonagall, excusing herself so that she didn't have to witness another argument about Bob Reynolds.

"I didn't have to ask, Harry, because I _know_ where he's going," said Cadance. She paused. "Maybe it's time you learned something about Bob Reynolds."

* * *

Bob Reynolds Disapparated from Hogsmeade and appeared at the edge of a large clearing in the middle of the woods. Inside the clearing was a cemetery, with around 100 headstones.

Without hesitation, he made his way through the middle of the cemetery, towards the back. He stopped about three rows from the back and stared down at two graves, one somewhat smaller than the other.

After standing in silence for several moments, he said, without looking up from the graves, "Haven't you all got anything better to do than follow me?" There was no emotion in his voice.

There was a pause, and then Harry appeared standing behind him, holding his invisibility cloak. Cadance and Dumbledore appeared a split-second later as their disillusionment charm lifted. As Bob sensed their presence, he slowly turned around. The expression on his face was flat.

"It was her idea," said Harry, pointing at Cadance.

"He was asking questions and it was really annoying," explained Cadance, pointing back at Harry.

"What's your excuse?" asked Bob, directing his question at Dumbledore.

"Oh, I'm just tagging along," said Dumbledore pleasantly, looking around at his surroundings. "Bit of a depressing place though, isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah. Hey, I think we buried you somewhere around here!" said Cadance, looking around.

"You _think_? Shouldn't you know where you buried me?" asked Dumbledore. "When was the last time you came to visit my grave?"

"I'm sorry that in the last 6 years I haven't felt the need to visit the place where we left your body to decompose… you know, what with you moving into the castle and all."

"Alright, well, let's go find my grave so you can pay your respects and leave these two to have a chat," said Dumbledore, taking Cadance by the arm.

"Wait… what? Why can't I pay my respects to you _personally_?" asked Cadance as he pulled her away. "You're lovely and intelligent and your beard is awesome…" They continued on until they were out of earshot. Bob Reynolds and Harry locked eyes for a second, then Bob turned back around to look at the graves. Harry moved to stand next to him.

"I understand why you don't trust me, Harry," said Bob, looking at him. "I wouldn't trust me if I were in your place."

"Cadance seems to trust you," said Harry. "I think that she brought me here because she wanted me to understand something about you… maybe something that will help me to trust you, too."

Bob nodded and looked back down at the graves. Harry followed his gaze and looked down at the graves for the first time. The larger one bore the name "ANGELA REYNOLDS" with the date of death being August 4, 1993. The date of birth was about 25 years earlier. The second headstone read "OLIVER REYNOLDS" with the same date of death. The date of birth was about eight months earlier.

It only took Harry a moment to realize he was looking at the graves of Bob Reynolds' wife and son. "I'm sorry," he said.

"She was a muggle," explained Bob. "Some young muggle delinquents broke in to our house to rob it, expecting nobody would be home. I was at work and when I came home I found Angie and Oliver dead. They shot them."

"I'm so sorry," said Harry. He put a hand on Bob's shoulder.

"It happened 2 days after Sirius escaped from Azkaban, so we thought it was him for a few days," said Bob. "Cadance didn't believe it was him though, and she and Cati found out it was really these three teenage boys. They got put in a juvenile detention center for a few years. About six months before you beat Voldemort at Hogwarts, the boys got released. That's when the Death Eaters contacted me and promised to make those boys pay for what they did to my family. They promised me the retribution that the muggles denied me. _That's_ what turned me, Harry."

Harry and Bob remained quiet for a few moments, then Harry said, "I think Cadance was right, Bob. I do understand you a bit better now."

"Trust has to be earned, Harry," said Bob. "I hope that one day I'll be able to earn yours."

"I think you're a little closer, Bob," said Harry. "I'm going to go stand with Albus and Cadance, and give you a little bit of privacy." Bob nodded and Harry moved off.

Cadance and Dumbledore were standing quite a bit away, staring at a grave. Harry joined them.

"Okay, just so you know…" Cadance was saying to Dumbledore. "I find standing at your grave with you very creepy. I just want to make it clear that this is one of the strangest things I've ever done in my life."

"Can't you just stand solemnly and respectfully at my grave and reflect on my life like normal people do at their relatives' graves?" asked Dumbledore.

"_No_," said Cadance, shaking her head. "I can stand here respectfully and reflect on the fact that you're back from the dead to help us vanquish Lord Voldemort. Would you like me to do that?"

"Did you and Bob have a nice chat, Harry?" asked Dumbledore, as Harry joined them.

"_You_," he hissed, pointing at Cadance. "_You_ are on my list."

"Your list of people to give hugs to?" asked Cadance hopefully, spreading her arms. Harry gave her the stink eye.

"I don't think so, dear," said Dumbledore.

"Why didn't you tell me about Bob's family?" asked Harry.

"It's not exactly something you can throw into every day conversation," said Cadance.

"No, but last week when McGonagall and I were asking you, '_Oh, hey, we'd like a reason for why Bob Reynolds came back from the Dark Side_, _could you give us one please?_' you _could_ have mentioned something then."

"It wasn't for me to tell you," said Cadance, her gaze traveling to Bob Reynolds, who was still standing, paying his respects to his wife and son. "He told you everything?" She looked back to Harry.

"I think so," said Harry, nodding.

"He was a mess right after it happened," said Cadance. "It's not something you can get over very easily… if at all. Even 4 years later, Voldemort was able to use it to get to him." She paused. "I know it doesn't excuse what he did, Harry, but I hope that you understand why he did it now."

"Talking about me?" Cadance, Harry, and Dumbledore turned to see Bob making his way towards them.

"Absolutely," said Cadance, nodding. Harry elbowed her. "What? It's not like he doesn't know!"

"We should probably get back to Hogwarts," said Bob, suppressing a smile.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go," said Cadance. They started walking towards the gate to Apparate out.

"Cati, we're leaving!" called Bob.

"We didn't bring Cati with us," said Harry, shaking his head. Suddenly, Cati popped up from behind a grave. "WHAT THE HELL?!" Harry turned to Cadance. "Did you know she was there?"

"Oh sure, she's been tailing me all day," said Cadance, as Cati fell into step with them.

"Why?!" asked Harry incredulously.

Cati shrugged. "For funsies."

"I tailed her yesterday," said Cadance, as if that explained it.

Harry stared at Cadance and Cati for a second as if they had each sprouted an extra head and were now singing Billy Joel's _For the Longest Time_ in four-part harmony. Then he said, "I really don't know what to do with all the information being thrown at me right now. I mean, I'm standing here in a cemetery, with a newly-reformed Death Eater who's telling me that he joined the Dark Side for revenge against the muggles who murdered his family, and we've got Dumbledore standing here just a couple of feet away from his own grave, and then suddenly Cati pops up out of nowhere because it turns out that while the rest of us are thinking about the future of the Wizarding world, you two are playing games, which I'm going to assume is how you two deal with the stress of constant mortal peril, even though it contributes nothing to the fight against Voldemort. But really, the pair of you just make my head hurt and leave me in a general state of confusion and I think you're giving me an ulcer. Being in charge of you two is like being spun around in a swivel chair for an hour and then trying to walk in a straight line."

"Incidentally, Cati and I _have_ done that before," said Cadance. Harry slapped his forehead as he turned on his heels, Apparating out.

* * *

Cadance stood on the train platform in Hogsmeade, her arms folded across her chest. Darkness had fallen, and they were expecting the students back any minute. McGonagall and Snape had gone to make a final lap of Hogsmeade to check on the Aurors, who were posted sporadically throughout.

Charlie was standing next to Cadance, with a lot of Order members close at hand. He slipped his arm around her waist. "You're quiet," he said.

"Just waiting for the train," said Cadance, shaking her head.

"Stop worrying. Ginny and Hermione said it was on schedule," said Charlie. After putting James, Molly, and Vivien (who had spent the last few days in Godric's Hollow) on the train, Ginny and Hermione traveled to Hogwarts via the Floo Network to report that the train had left. Harry and Ron, accompanied by a handful of Order members, boarded the train, much to the chagrin of James and Molly.

Hermione and Ron had left Joseph in the charge of Jen and George while they brought the older kids to King's Cross. Jen and George brought Abby, Freddy and Joseph to Hogwarts. The kids were currently up in the Great Hall, under the careful watch of Dobby and Krumpet.

Standing on the platform, they heard the sound of a train whistle in the distance and Cadance breathed a sigh of relief. "See," whispered Charlie, pulling Cadance closer. "Nothing to worry about."

"We'll see," came McGonagall's voice from their left. They looked over as she came up to stand next to them. "They're not in yet."

Within another minute or so, they were able to see the lights of the train, a tiny pin prick in the distance. The Order came forward and stood along the edge of the platform with Cadance, Charlie, and McGonagall. Everyone had their wand out, and Cati was twirling hers through her fingers, almost as though she was daring someone to try attacking her, which was pretty much how she approached each and every day.

But even as the train slowed to a stop and Harry, Ron, and some of the Order disembarked first, to check that everything was alright, and Sirius, Remus, and the Aurors who had followed the train on broomstick landed on the platform, no attack came. So the students were let off the train, laughing, chatting, excited to be back.

As the students began filing past the Order, into the carriages, however, Cadance began to fill ill-at-ease. She couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong. She looked around, trying to figure out what was making her feel slightly on edge.

Mad-Eye, Arabella, and Mundungus were off to the side where Hagrid was gathering the First-Years. They were going to accompany them up to the castle, where one of the other teachers would meet them to prepare them for the Sorting. Cadance caught Arabella's eye, and Arabella nodded at her. They seemed fine.

Sirius and Remus were talking with Hermione and Ginny. Sirius was apparently recounting a story about something that happened during their flight, because he was animatedly pantomiming riding a broomstick, and Hermione and Ginny were laughing.

She was about to look around and check on the rest of the Order, when she felt Harry at her shoulder. "Nothing strange at King's Cross? Or on the train?" Cadance asked him.

Harry shook his head. "Everything went off without a hitch. Oh, except Sirius almost ran into the back of the train on his broomstick," he said. "Why? Is something wrong?"

Before Cadance could answer, however, she was interrupted by several ear piercing shrieks. Cadance and Harry both whirled around, wands at the ready. Several Order members, students, and Aurors were doing the same. It didn't take long to find the source of the commotion.

A green, sparkling light had erupted directly above the train.

"The Dark Mark," whispered Cadance.

There was a pause, and then panic ensued. Students were screaming, and stampeding away from the train. Some students were still inside the train, and were pushing and shoving their way out from all of the several exits of the train. The Aurors and Order Members were trying to regain control, while looking around for Death Eaters.

"I thought you said the station was secure!" shouted Harry at Cadance as he helped a startled 1st Year that had been knocked down by the stampede to his feet.

"It is!" returned Cadance, as she tried to make her way towards the train.

"That had to have come from inside the train, or we'd have seen someone cast it!" shouted Remus, as he fought through the crowd towards them.

All of the students had finally got off the train. Several Order Members were boarding through other entrances. Suddenly, Molly came barreling down the hallway with Vivien in tow.

"Down at the end of the train!" she shouted. "James is down there!"

Harry didn't stay to wait for an explanation. He dashed past his nieces towards the other end of the train. Cadance let Ginny, Ron, and Sirius follow but stopped the rest of the Order. "It's too narrow," she said, holding up a hand. She turned to Molly. "How many Death Eaters?"

"No, Death Eaters," she said, shaking her head. She was still trying to catch her breath. "None on the train. James is there with a 1st Year. She's unconscious in one of the compartments."

"Alright," said Cadance, turning to the rest of the Order. "Get these two off the train and into the carriages and send the carriages up to the school. Some of you go with them, and the rest should start searching the platform. Check the other side of the train. See if we missed anything. Send up red sparks if there are Death Eaters. Tell Minerva I need her. I'll see you all up at the school."

She turned and made her way down the corridor of the train, without waiting to see if they did as they were told. As she approached the end of the train, she heard voices, making it easier to find everyone. She entered the compartment they were in.

"Harry, honestly, it's a 1st Year!" Ginny was saying.

"What's going on?" asked Cadance. Ginny was kneeling besides an unconscious 11-year-old girl. Harry was standing next to them. Sirius and Ron were sitting on one side of the compartment. James was on the other. Cadance sat down next to him.

"We may have found who cast the Dark Mark," said Sirius, raising an eyebrow.

"Who?" asked Cadance expectantly. James nudged her with his elbow, then pointed at the 1st Year. Cadance gasped. "She's a little girl!"

"That's what _I_ said!" said Ginny.

"Watch," said Harry. He was holding a second wand in his hand. He pointed his wand to the tip of the other wand and said, "_Priori Incantatem_." A wisp of smoke shaped like the Dark Mark erupted from the end of the wand.

"It was lying on the floor beside her," said Ron.

"Do you know who she is?" asked Sirius.

"I haven't the faintest idea," said Cadance, shaking her head. Suddenly, the girl began to stir. Her eyes slowly blinked open. She stared up at them for a few seconds, then she began to cry.

"I want to go home," she sobbed.

"What's your name, sweetie?" asked Ginny kindly, as she helped her sit up.

"Alice Kensington," she said with a sniffle.

"Alice, is this your wand?" asked Harry, holding up the wand that had conjured the Dark Mark. Alice nodded and reached for it, but Harry pulled it away. Alice dropped her hand started to cry harder.

"I don't think I like being a witch. I want to go home," she said.

They all looked round at each other as realization donned on them. It was Ginny who first voiced their strong suspicions. "Alice, dear, are you a muggle-born?" she asked softly. Harry was already handing her back her wand, sure of the answer, and sure that she wasn't the one who cast the Dark Mark.

Alice nodded. "Professor Weasley said that it wouldn't matter when she came to give me my letter," she said. Sirius pulled a tissue out of his pocket and handed it to her and she used it to dry her eyes.

Cadance ran a hand over her face. "Cati was in charge of going to all the muggle-borns and their families this summer, since I wasn't here," she said. She looked down at Alice. "Alice, I'm Professor Weasley… er, a _different_ Professor Weasley. Can you tell us what happened?"

"I was sitting here, when four people walked in, with their hoods up and they were wearing masks. I couldn't see their faces. I was going to ask them if it was time to get off the train yet, but then one of them came at me. That's all I remember," she said.

"You don't know what they looked like at all?" asked Ginny.

Alice shook her head. "Was it Voldemort?" she asked. "Professor Weasley told me and my mum and dad about Voldemort."

"No, dear. It wasn't Voldemort," said Ginny, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"James, will you take Alice off the train and stay with her until you get up to the castle?" asked Cadance.

"Sure, Aunt…I mean, Professor Weasley," said James, getting to his feet.

"The school year hasn't started yet, James," said Cadance, giving him a small smile. "Alice, when I get up to the castle, we'll sit down with Headmistress McGonagall and if you still want to go home, we'll arrange it. But I do hope you'll stay."

Alice nodded. James put a hand on her shoulder and directed her out of the compartment.

"She has a bump on her head," commented Ginny, as soon as she was sure they were out of earshot. "They knocked her out with something."

"Death Eaters got on the train and knocked her out so that they could use her wand, and then just disappeared?" asked Sirius, skeptically. "And they left her alive?"

"So it would seem," said Harry, running his hand over his face.

Suddenly a thought struck Cadance. She closed her eyes and shook her head. "No," she said. "No, that's not it."

"What?" asked Ron.

"They knocked her out so she couldn't see them, and then they used her wand to cast the Dark Mark," said Cadance. "But they didn't just disappear. They _blended in_. And they were able to blend in… because they belong here." She paused as everyone realized where she was going with this.

"They were students," said Harry, numbly. "_They were students_."

"It fits," said Cadance. "King's Cross was secure. Hogsmeade was secure. They picked a 1st Year and knocked her out so she wouldn't see them, wouldn't know them, and they used her wand, because they knew we'd check all the students' wands once we realized there were no Death Eaters attacking the platform. They didn't kill her, because they'd have to use a wand to do that, and we could check for that, too. And even if they killed her without a wand, there'd be evidence, and they couldn't risk it."

They stared at each other in silence for a second. Then, McGonagall entered the compartment.

"No Death Eaters on the platform," she said. "What'd you come up with in here?" No one knew how to answer her.

* * *

By the time James was exiting the train with Alice Kensington, the Aurors had gotten the platform under control. The air was still tense, but the students had calmed down after they grasped the fact that the platform was not currently under attack. Most were already loaded into carriages and on their way up to the school. Some prefects were still around, helping to round up the discarded luggage so that it could be transported up to the school separately. Others were helping to usher the remaining students into carriages.

"James! _James!_"

James looked over to his left. Molly and Vivien were rushing over to him and Alice.

"What are you two still doing here?" he asked.

"Waiting for you," said Vivien. "Did they find anything out?"

"Not now," James said, and inclined his head towards Alice, who was looking up at Hogwarts with wide-eyes. Even from this distance, it was awe-inspiring.

"Come on, let's grab a carriage," said Molly.

James ushered Alice in front of him as they followed Molly towards the waiting carriages. He made introductions as they walked.

"Alice, these are two of my cousins. That one's Molly, and the other is Vivien," said James, making introductions. "Vivien is Professor Weasley's daughter. Well… _one _of the Professor Weasleys. The one that gave you your letter."

"Oh," said Alice. "I liked her."

"Well, she's my aunt," said James. And you met my other Aunt… the _other_ Professor Weasley…"

"_One_ of the other Professor Weasleys," corrected Vivien. "Don't forget Uncle Charlie."

"Right," said James. "Well, what I'm trying to say is, I know it seems scary now, but Hogwarts really is great and Aunt Cadance meant it when she said she hoped you'll stay." Alice nodded, but didn't say anything.

"What are you still doing down here?" growled Moody at Vivien and Molly as they approached one of the carriages. "Didn't I send you two up to the castle a few minutes ago?" Moody opened the door and helped the girls climb in.

"We were waiting for James," explained Molly.

"With _constant vigilance_!" added Vivien, as Moody closed the door behind them. She leaned out the open window as the carriage started to pull away. "You hear that Moody?! CONSTANT VIGILANCE! Where was your constant vigilance this evening when someone cast the Dark Mark?! YOU'RE GETTING SLOPPY, OLD MAN!"

"VIVIEN WEASLEY, YOU STICK YOUR HEAD BACK IN THAT CARRIAGE BEFORE YOU HURT YOURSELF!" Moody exclaimed. "AND DON'T YOU EVER LET ME HEAR YOU SASSING ME AGAIN, YOUNG LADY, OR I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU REGRET IT!"

"BRING IT ON, MAD-EYE! I'M NOT AFRAID OF YOU!"

James grabbed Vivien by the back of her robes and pulled her all the way in the carriage. Molly was shaking her head and rolling her eyes towards the ceiling. Alice looked on in shock and amazement.

"They're kidding," explained Molly. "Vivien's his favorite. He's amused by her."

"Oh," Alice said. She looked out the window. They road in silence for a little, then Alice turned back to them and asked, "Will I be terribly behind everyone who's parents are witches and wizards?"

"Oh, no, not at all," said Molly, reassuringly. "My mum was muggle-born and she was the top of her class."

"What does your mom do now?" asked Alice. "What do witches and wizards do after school?"

"She's an Auror. Both of my parents are Aurors. So are James'," said Molly.

"An Auror catches bad wizards," explained Vivien.

"Why haven't they caught Voldemort yet?" asked Alice.

There was a pause as James, Molly and Vivien exchanged a look. James sighed. "They're working on it."

* * *

The students were beginning to get restless. Professor Sinistra had overseen the Sorting, but that had been 10 minutes ago. McGonagall, Cadance, Cati, Charlie, and Snape had yet to appear.

Alice had been sorted into Gryffindor and was now seated with Vivien. Molly, who had been named Head Girl, had walked over to the Ravenclaw table to talk to the Head Boy, William Fionn. After a few minutes, she headed back over and took her seat next to James.

"William asked Flitwick what was going on, but he wouldn't tell him anything," said Molly.

"They're obviously talking about the Dark Mark that appeared over the train," said James.

"I know, but why keep us waiting this long?" asked Molly. "Unless, maybe they found something."

"Don't hold your breath," muttered James. "Oh, it's about time." The door had opened, and the five missing teachers marched in. They walked very deliberately up to the Head Table. Cadance stood in front of the Head Table while the other four talked in hushed tones to the other professors. The Order of the Phoenix began filing in quietly and standing along the walls, surveying the room.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts," said Cadance, smiling. "I know Professor McGonagall usually gives the first speech of the term, but I have something to say before I turn it over to her. For those of you who are just joining us, I am Deputy Headmistress Weasley. But I'm not addressing you as your Deputy Headmistress right now. Right now, I'm Major Cadance Weasley of the Auror Department.

"I'm sure you're all aware of the little excitement we've had down at Hogsmeade. You should know that we did not capture the ones responsible, and that's why I'm up here, talking to you right now. I'm going to tell you what we know, so that you don't have to hear a wildly inaccurate version from the Hogwarts grapevine.

"This evening, as you were getting off the train, four Death Eaters entered one of the compartments and attacked a 1st Year. They knocked her out, and used her wand to cast the Dark Mark, so that it couldn't be traced back to them."

Cadance paused and looked around. She was no longer smiling. Her face was hardened. "Then," she continued, "the four Death Eaters removed their masks and hoods and blended in with the rest of you. Because they are _students at this school_." She said the last four words emphatically. The students began to murmur to each other, but a swift angry look from Cadance shut them all up, and they continued to listen intently.

"Let me make something perfectly clear," continued Cadance. "Anyone who wears the mask of a Death Eater should listen up, because this concerns them specifically. _Death Eaters are not welcome here, and will be met with unpleasant hostilities, the likes of which you cannot fathom._ When we find which of you are Death Eaters, whether they be just the four from the train, or _more of you_, we will no longer consider you a student, and therefore will no longer be concerned for your safety. We will bring you in, _dead or alive_. Any Death Eater who pulls a wand in this castle cannot expect to escape with their lives, whether they are 44-years-old… _or 14._

"I _urge_ anyone with any information, particularly those who have been contacted by Death Eaters, or who have made contact themselves, to come forward. I will be either in my classroom or in my office for the next two days. Any Death Eater who comes forward and talks to me, or any other Professor, will be forgiven and may retain their freedom, and their position at this school, even if they are one of the four from the train. After that time, General Potter and the Aurors will come in, and we will launch an investigation into this evening's incident.

"Let me repeat myself: Professor Cadance Weasley is a very forgiving person. Major Cadance Weasley… not so much. You see that man standing along the wall right behind the Ravenclaw table? That's Bob Reynolds. Wave hello, Bob. He's going to be joining the staff this year, as a Professor of Auror Studies. He used to be a Death Eater. He can tell you exactly how forgiving I can be. He can also tell you exactly how _un_forgiving.

"I'll turn it over to Professor McGonagall now," ended Cadance. "Enjoy the feast." She walked over to the wall where Harry and Mr. Weasley were talking in hushed tones. "Well," she whispered, as McGonagall began addressing the school. "What do you think?"

"I think it's going to be a hell of a year," said Harry.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the hiatus! Also, check out my recent update of my story Beginnings.


	31. The bad school year continues

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as belonging to anyone else.

A/N: Please Review!

* * *

"Nobody came forward?" asked Arabella. "Not a single student?"

The Order had reconvened. It was two days after the attack on the train, and Cadance's deadline had passed at the end of the school day. No students had approached Cadance to confess their involvement in the attack, or to admit that they had been contacted by Death Eaters, or to say that they had seen anything suspicious.

Cadance was standing at her seat, leaning forward, with her palms pressed against the table. She was looking down at the table when she answered, "Not a single student."

"I guess you're not as scary as you think you are," said Cati.

"Yeah, she's right cuddly," scoffed Sirius. Cadance's head shot up and she glared at him. Suddenly, Sirius's head flew forward and banged off the table. "OW!"

"So what do we do now?" asked Bill.

"Harry is going to come in tomorrow and start the investigation. Some of you Aurors will be brought in to help. Harry has the particulars. He'll let you know," said Cadance, rubbing her forehead. "Does anyone else have anything to add? We can wrap this up; I don't have much to say."

"Er, yes, actually," said Harry, raising his arm. Cadance bobbed her head at him and sunk into her chair as Harry continued. "I actually have a question for Bob Reynolds. When I took over as Head Auror, I found this file in one of the cabinets in my office and I asked my secretary about it and she said that it's an old Code 23 file, which, for the rest of you, is the label given to any secret file kept by Head Aurors during their tenures. They're labeled as 'Code 23' so that the nature of the file is known only by the Head Auror who keeps it. I checked the dates, and it was from when you were Head Auror and I was wondering what it actually is."

"Let me see," said Bob. Harry had the thick file on the table in front of him and he passed it to Bob Reynolds.

"It looks like a collection of incident reports and crime reports, varying in the seriousness of the offenses," said Harry. "The only thing in common with all of them is that the investigations went nowhere and there were no viable suspects."

"Ah, yes," said Reynolds, flipping through the file. "Every time something happened that I _thought _that Cadance and Cati were responsible for, but I had no proof, I put it in this Code 23."

"What?!" exclaimed Cati. "Let me see that!"

"You know, you _could_ have just asked," said Cadance, as Bob passed the file to Cati. "We would have told you."

"Yes, but then I would have had to arrest you, and that would have been distinctly unpleasant," said Bob.

Cadance and Cati put their heads together and flipped through the incident reports.

"Oh, yes," said Cati, flipping through the pages, reacting to each report. "Yes. No. Absolutely, yes. That was definitely us. Not us, but we know who did it. Yes. Yes. No…"

"Oh, come on!" exclaimed Cadance. "How could you have thought that we were responsible for that exploding birthday cake epidemic!"

"You have a sweet tooth!" argued Bob.

"Yeah, actually, are you sure you're just not remember right?" asked Charlie. "It _does_ sound an awful lot like you."

"Let me see this," said Jen, grabbing it from Cati and opening it randomly to a page. "Christmas Eve 1992. Reindeer fly at Regent's Park in London. Hover charm detected in the area," she read.

"Well, clearly that was Santa Claus," said Cati.

"Rare amulet stolen from muggle museum in Frankfurt, Germany," said Jen. She turned to Bob Reynolds. "Oh, come on, they wouldn't steal…"

Cadance and Cati began whistling innocently and looking at the ceiling.

"That's exactly what they did when that report came across our desk from the International Confederation of Wizards!" exclaimed Bob Reynolds excitedly, pointing at Cadance and Cati. "That's why it's in there!"

"Okay, why are some of the reports blue and some of them green?" asked Jen.

"The blue ones are the ones I _think_ they did, and the green ones are the ones I _know_ they did," answered Bob.

Jen turned to a green report towards the end, read it for a second, then said, "You snuck into the Department of Mysteries, broke into a room full of top-secret documents, injured two Aurors, then ran away?!?"

"Actually, that was just Cadance," said Cati.

"And it's not as bad as it sounds. I didn't actually injure those Aurors; the Death Eaters did," said Cadance.

"Oh, right, of course, the Death Eaters," said Jen, flippantly. "Why does every story have to end in Death Eaters?"

"Hey, and Bob knew you did that?" asked Harry. "How have you not been arrested more?"

"Actually, I had to quit so I wouldn't be," said Cadance.

"There were extenuating circumstances. I covered for her and accepted her resignation before Cornelius Fudge could pull her in for an inquiry, which would inevitably end with her getting arrested," explained Bob.

Jen had continued flipping through the file. "You impersonated a muggle telephone psychic!" exclaimed Jen.

"No," said Cadance, confused, shaking her head, at the same time Cati started cracking up. Cadance looked at her strangely.

"Oh, that was after you quit," explained Cati. "I had to do something to entertain myself."

"Oh, I understand. A few weeks after I thought you'd died, I, uh, left a trail of lemon drops from Harry's office in the Auror Department to the file room and tried to trap him in there," said Cadance nodding. "To entertain myself."

"I _knew_ it!" exclaimed Harry, pointing at her.

"This is why I kept a file," said Bob quietly to Harry.

* * *

The next morning, Cadance watched as her 7th Year Gryffindor and Slytherins filed into the room and took their seats. Her N.E.W.T. class had grown over the past several years. For some odd reason, Defense Against the Dark Arts was really in demand…

In the past, Cadance had only let students who passed their O.W.L.s with an "Exceeds Expectations" into her N.E.W.T. class, but due to the current situation in the Wizarding World, she let students who passed with an "Acceptable" to go on to the N.E.W.T. level if she thought they could do the coursework without injuring anyone during practical lessons. In order to accommodate the growing number, the class had been split into two, with the Gryffindors and Slytherins together and the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs together.

"Wands away, books out," she said. Everyone groaned. "Don't give me that. I'm punishing the entire school with technical, not practical, lessons for the next week. I told you to come forward if you have any information, and nobody did."

"You can't just accept that we legitimately don't know anything?" asked James, from his seat in the back row. Molly, who sat up front, turned around and shot him a look.

"Someone in this castle knows _something_, Potter," said Cadance, narrowing her eyes at him. "The Aurors are here already and they'll be questioning everyone today. All of you 7th years will be right after lunch. But now, we're going to go over the defensive _theory_ behind shield charms." The entire class groaned again at the word "theory."

Cadance turned around and picked up a piece of chalk and wrote "SHIELD CHARMS" on the board. "Can anyone name a problem with relying on a shield charm as a defensive measure?" asked Cadance. Molly's hand flew into the air and Cadance acknowledged her.

"If there's not enough power behind it, it won't block anything," said Molly. "Or it will only block _some_ things."

"Right," said Cadance. She turned around and wrote "Strength of shield charm not necessarily reliable" on the board. She turned back around and surveyed the class. "Name another."

"They only stop spells, but you can walk through all but the most powerful shield charms," piped up Molly. "So if you put one up in an attempt to run away, the other party can probably chase you."

"Excellent," said Cadance, adding it to the list. "One more. Someone beside Ms. Weasley, please." She thought she heard some shuffling, so she turned around and looked over the class, ready to catch someone passing notes or concealing other homework. Everyone was still. She cocked an eyebrow at them.

Nobody had their hand raised either, but Molly looked like she was ready to supply the answer. Everyone else was trying to look inconspicuous so they wouldn't be called on. "Mr. Potter, relieve your cousin," said Cadance. "Name a problem with shield charms."

James looked thoughtful for a second. "It works both ways," he answered. "You can't cast any spells through it either. And in the time it takes to take the shield down, your opponent could cast another spell and you may be unprepared to block it."

"Exactly," said Cadance, adding it to the list. "All of these are reasons that you shouldn't rely on a shield charm if you run into a Death Eater. However, it's not a completely useless skill to have. A particularly powerful shield charm can cause the spell being cast against it to rebound on your opponent, which should give you time to take the shield down and prepare to defend yourself. It can also help in protecting another person, by casting it in between two people to create a barrier so that spells will deflect off of it. If it's powerful enough, though even some Aurors can't cast ones powerful enough, they can't walk through them either to attack each other physically. Also, if the two are standing too close to the shield charm as it is cast, it can throw them back, physically separating them…"

Cadance trailed off. She had begun to feel light-headed as she spoke. Her vision seemed fuzzy as well. She squinted at her class. Everyone in the front row, and several in the second, seemed to trying to shake off this feeling as well. The entire class seemed strange. Cadance bent over and put her palms on her desk, supporting her weight. James and Jack Wood, sitting next to each other in the back row, both got to their feet.

Cadance reached a shaky hand into her pocket and drew her wand. "_Specialus Revelio_," she breathed. Suddenly, in the front of the room, in between her and the first row of students, a green smog appeared. It was disseminating throughout the classroom, having not reached the back yet.

More and more students were standing, but some in the front, had started to pass out. Molly had slumped forward on her desk, as had both girls next to her. Cadance tried to speak to the class, but she just coughed. She turned around and pounded her fist on the board, and the chalk flew up and began writing of its own accord. "EVERYONE OUT!"

Some of the students stood up and wobbled out. James grabbed his cousin and slung her over his shoulder before rushing out. Jack Wood and another Gryffindor boy grabbed the other two incapacitated girls from the front row and followed.

Meanwhile, Cadance turned towards the nearest window and pointed her wand at it. Wordlessly, she shot a spell through it, causing a gaping hole. She did the same to the farther one, before sinking to her knees.

The next thing she knew, she was looking up into the faces of Harry and Remus. Remus turned to say something to someone behind him, but Cadance couldn't quite hear it. Then, Cati's face appeared. Cadance squeezed her eyes shut. Someone was slapping the side of her face. Her eyes sprang open again.

"What the hell happened to you?" asked Cati bluntly.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Cadance, trying to sit up.

"Your students are fine," said Harry nodding. He knelt down and helped her to sit up. "Molly and two other girls passed out, we're told, but they had woken up by the time we got here and we sent them to the Hospital Wing. We were about to take you there when you started to come around."

"Where's the rest of my class?" asked Cadance.

"Down the hallway in an empty classroom," answered Harry. "Alastor is with them, trying to piece together what happened. What _did_ happen?"

"I was teaching when suddenly I felt very strange. I thought there might be something not right _magically_ in the room, so I used a revelation spell and this green smoke appeared. It was spreading through the classroom. I sent the class out and broke the windows to clear the air and… that's all I remember."

"Harry, Ron, Alastor and I were about to go round the Aurors on duty in Hogsmeade to check on things while Hermione, Jen, and Ginny were interrogating some of the First Years…we figured they're much less emotionally scarring for the younger students… when Lee Jordan's boy came running up to us and told us to head down here, that something was wrong with you and some of the students," said Remus. "We grabbed Cati on the way. Ron went off to find Minerva. We sent Lance for Charlie. By the time we got here, James and Wood had already pulled you out of the classroom and were trying to wake you up."

"Those noble idiots," hissed Cadance.

"The next time you see them, how about you _don't_ call them idiots, and maybe thank them?" suggested Cati.

"I told them to get out! They didn't know what that smoke was; they could have been killed!" argued Cadance. "We _still_ don't know what it is."

"Well, maybe we should figure that out, hmm?" said Cati. Remus reached down and helped Cadance to her feet. She swayed a little and Remus grabbed her arm to steady her.

"Maybe you should take her to the Hospital Wing," said Harry to Remus, putting a hand on Cadance's shoulder.

"I'm fine," said Cadance shrugging them both off. "I've got to go check on…"

She was interrupted as Charlie came flying around the corner, as fast as he could. He slid to a stop and pulled Cadance into a hug. A few seconds later, McGonagall, Snape, Ron and Lance Jordan followed.

Harry turned to Ron. "The students that were hurt… we sent them to the Hospital Wing. Molly was one of them," he said. Ron paled a little and his eyes grew wide. Harry added quickly, "She seems fine. We just sent her as a precaution."

Ron nodded. "If you think you can handle everything here…"

Harry cut him off. "Go check on your daughter," he said. Ron walked off quickly in the direction of the Hospital Wing.

"What happened?" Charlie asked Cadance, putting his hands on either side of her face.

"We're still trying to sort that all out," said Cadance. She turned to Jordan. "Lance, go join the rest of the class. They're in the empty room down the hallway."

"It's not empty if they're in it," said Jordan, pointing at her as he passed on his way to the classroom.

"This is not a Quidditch match, Jordan, we do not need the commentary," rebuked McGonagall.

"Are you suggesting that you _do_ need the commentary _during_ Quidditch matches?" asked Jordan.

"JORDAN!"

Meanwhile, Snape had performed a Bubblehead charm on himself, and was preparing to go into the classroom. "That's a good look for you, Uncle Severus," said Cati, nodding appreciatively at the large bubble around his head.

"Catalin, what did Minerva just say about not needing the commentary?" asked Snape, sounding kind of far away inside his bubble.

Everyone pulled out their wands to perform the charm on themselves as well. Charlie looked disapprovingly at his wife as she prepared to go in, but didn't say anything. Once Snape was sure that everyone had a fresh supply of air, he opened the door and took a step inside.

The green fog was mostly gone, but there was still a bit of a green haze in the room. The fresh air that was seeping in through the broken windows had mostly cleared the room out.

"Green," commented Cati. "Strange."

"Invisible," corrected Cadance. "Revelation spell."

"Was there a distinct smell in the room?" asked Snape.

"No," said Cadance, shaking her head. "I just suddenly felt strange, used the revelation spell, saw the smoke and sent the class out."

"Strange, how?" asked Snape.

"Well, at first I felt kind of fuzzy, then I couldn't talk, and then I couldn't really breathe," explained Cadance. "It happened very quickly."

"Where was the smoke concentrated?"

"In between my desk and the first row," said Cadance. Snape walked over to that area and started looking around. Cadance's brow furrowed as she tried to think back to what had happened before the incident.

"Here," said Snape, bending down. When he straightened up, he had small folded grey pouch in his hand. It was made out of some kind of paper. Its color matched the stone on the floor.

"What is it?" asked Cadance, stepping forward to inspect it. A 'W' was embossed on the front. There was a singe mark on the end, near the very small opening.

"It's a Weasley Product," said Snape, with a sneer. "New. I had one delightful student set off one in my class yesterday. It's George's newest dung bomb. You light it like a regular dung bomb—you can't see the spark on the fuse. But this one goes more slowly. Prolongs the stench. The trade-off, however, is that it's not quite as potent as some of their other dung bombs."

"This caused it?" asked Cati. "Did George mess something up?"

"No, see this?" said Snape, pointing to one side. "Spellotape. I'd be willing to bet that someone opened the pouch and replaced the ingredients and then sealed it back up. They probably put in ingredients whose fumes are poisonous. I can analyze the residue on this to confirm, and find out what poison was used. Then I'll be able to let you know what kind of complications you can expect from exposure."

"But that means that one of my students…" started Cadance.

"Yes, one of your students did it," interrupted Snape. "Are you really that surprised? We already know there are at least four Death Eaters in this castle. Probably more."

"No, I'm trying to say…" said Cadance, trailing off. "One of them set off this poison and then stuck around. _That _doesn't make sense. They could have been killed, too."

"Not necessarily," said Cati, stepping forward. "George's new product… the fuse takes longer to burn down, like Uncle Severus said, but it doesn't just prolong the effects of the dung bomb, but it also _delays_ it, giving the prankster more time to get away to save their nostrils."

"You seem to know an awful lot about George's new product," said Harry, eyeing her warily. "You have some in your pocket right now, don't you?"

"No," said Cati, a little too quickly.

"And, I'll have you know, _Vivien_ was that delightful student who set one off in my class yesterday,' added Snape. "I hope you're proud." The look on Cati's face said that she was.

"How long does it delay the, er, stench?" asked Cadance, stepping in before Snape could say anything else.

"Depends on which type they bought. Could be as much as two hours," said Cati.

"So it could have been any of my classes so far this morning," said Cadance.

"I think not," said Snape. He held up the pouch again. "See the scorch mark on the end here? When the person re-sealed the pouch, they probably doubled the fuse over on itself, shortening it and causing a much higher concentration of the poison to come out sooner. I'd say it was someone in either the class you were teaching at the time, or the one right before."

"I didn't have a class right before," said Cadance. "It was my free period."

"Then, I'd say that in order to find the perpetrator, you won't have to look farther than the empty classroom down the hallway," said Snape.

"It's not empty if they're in it," deadpanned Cadance and Cati at the same time. McGonagall rolled her eyes.

* * *

Cadance's class had been sitting tight under Alastor Moody's watchful (and magical) eye. While Snape went off to analyze the pouch, Cadance went to see her class. Harry and the rest went to the Great Hall, where Hermione, Jen, and Ginny were still questioning 1st Years.

As soon as Cadance entered the room, the students started asking her questions. She put her hands up to quiet them. As soon as she had their full attention, she said, almost dangerously, "Did I not make myself perfectly clear at the Feast the other day? Did I not say that Death Eaters were not welcome in this castle?"

"Death Eaters did it?" spoke up someone in the back.

"I want everyone to roll up their sleeves this very minute," said Cadance. "Major Moody and I will be inspecting your forearms."

"Do you think that You-Know-Who would really brand a Hogwarts student with the Dark Mark?" asked Wood, as he complied with her order. All around him, people were rolling up their sleeves.

"I think he would if the person was of age," said Cadance, as she and Moody were walking around, looking at forearms. As she was about to turn into another row, she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. She dropped to the floor just as a spell flew over her head.

A few people screamed. Cadance drew her wand and climbed to her feet. A Gryffindor boy was holding a scared-looking Slytherin girl at wand point and inching backwards towards the door. Moody had his wand trained on them.

"Let her go, Mr. Drake," said Cadance.

"Why?" he asked. "You're not going to let _me_ go."

"No, I'm not," said Cadance, shaking her head. Drake had made it to the door and managed to open it without turning his back to Cadance and Moody, or taking his wand off of the Slytherin girl's throat.

Some of the other students began pulling their wands as well, eager to help. Cadance shook her head at James. "Don't take another step closer," said Drake, crossing the threshold. "And don't follow me, or she dies." They disappeared from view. Cadance and Moody looked at each other, waited a few seconds, then dashed for the door.

"Everyone, _stay here_!" ordered Cadance. They raced into the hallway. Cadance was in the lead, with Moody clunking along behind her.

Drake had abandoned the girl. She was picking herself up off the ground in the middle of the hallway. Drake was much father ahead. "Miss Brearley, are you alright?" asked Cadance, stopping to help her up, as Moody pushed passed her, firing a spell at Drake. It barely missed him.

"I'm fine," said Brearley. A smile crossed her face. Cadance looked at her strangely. Then, Brearley punched her hard, and Cadance went down.

From the floor, Cadance kicked her leg, tripping Brearley, who also fell. Moody heard the commotion and turned. "Get him! I'm fine!" exclaimed Cadance and she and Brearley both got to their feet, pointing their wands squarely in each other's faces.

"Professor Weasley," said Brearley, a cruel smile playing across her face.

"You're quite the little actress, aren't you?" said Cadance. Brearley was about to respond when they heard, from the direction of the classroom, someone shout.

"_Protego!_" A shield charm erupted between them, sending them both flying backwards from each other. They picked themselves up and looked over. James, Jack Wood and Lance Jordan were standing there, wands drawn. James had cast the shield charm. Brearley stuck her hand out and touched it. Her hand didn't go through.

"Like you said," said James. "Not a completely useless skill to have. Go on after Drake, Aunt Cadance. We can take care of her."

Cadance hesitated a moment, then nodded. She turned and took off running down the hallway, in the direction that Moody and Drake had taken. She called over her shoulder as she ran. "Excellent shield charm, James! You all get A's!"

Cadance turned the corner and found Moody dueling Drake, who was quite skilled for a barely-qualified wizard. Moody, unsure of how aggressively he should handle the situation, was blocking everything Drake was sending his way, while trying half-heartedly to fight him. "Stop messing around, Alastor, and take him out!" shouted Cadance.

"He's a student!" exclaimed Moody.

"Not anymore he isn't," said Cadance. She swung her wand over her head and brought it down, sending a curse at Drake. It hit him square in the chest, despite his attempt to block it. He was blasted off his feet and did not move.

"He's going to need medical attention before he's turned over to Harry," said Cadance, straightening her robes and turning around. She walked back to where she left her nephew and his friends to deal with the other student-turned-Death Eater. As soon as she turned the corner, she saw that Jack and James were restraining her while Lance kept his wand trained on her.

She passed them up and stuck her head in the classroom. "You're all dismissed," she said. The rest of her class stared at her blankly. "Out. Now." They filed past her quickly and she watched them. She continued to stare them down so that they would move quickly passed their restrained classmate. When the last one had disappeared around the corner, she turned back to James, Jack, Lance and Brearley.

"Take her inside and tie her to a chair. We'll keep her tied up until General Potter sends someone to collect her," she said. As Jack and James walked Brearley into the classroom, Cadance added, "Of course it goes without saying, Miss Brearley, but you're clearly expelled."

* * *

"I don't suppose they get any credit for inter-House cooperation?" asked Sirius, when the Order reconvened later that night.

"No, but Brearley gets credit for punching Cadance in the face," said Harry.

"Hey! I was just poisoned! It affected my reflexes!" exclaimed Cadance. Everyone looked at her skeptically.

"That's two Death Eaters at Hogwarts," said Arthur, stepping in to rescue his daughter-in-law. "But there were four on the train. We're still missing two."

"Actually, we're missing at least 3," said Cadance, shaking her head. "I had a talk with James, Jack Wood, and Lance Jordan as we were waiting for Harry to come take Matilda Brearley into custody. They all say that Breece Drake was in their compartment on the train when the Dark Mark was cast. That's when James ran off to find Molly and Vivien and the other three boys got off the train. Drake couldn't have attacked Alice Kensington or cast the Dark Mark."

"Do any of the students know that you got punched by a 17-year-old girl?" asked Cati, as if oblivious to what Cadance had just said. "That's going to be quite embarrassing for you."

"Honestly, I just can't believe a _Gryffindor_ was in on it," said Wyatt shaking his head. "You think you know who your friends are…"

"Oh, how unoriginal," said Sirius dismissively. "We've already been through that."

"Yeah, really," said Remus, shaking his head. "Not the first time."

"It's not until they start getting Hufflepuffs that we've got a real problem," said Cati.

* * *

The term passed quickly. So quickly, in fact, that by the end of this paragraph, it will be Christmas break.

Cadance and Cati sat on Jen's couch with a bowl of popcorn in between them. They were focused intently on the TV. Jen was bustling around upstairs. Vivien, Abby and Fred were all sitting on the floor, focused on the TV as well. The house was festively decorated for Christmas.

"Okay, Cadance, Cati, I'll be back in a bit," said Jen, as she threw a cloak around her shoulders and walked down the stairs. She was running off to do some Christmas shopping with Ginny. George was at work. Cadance and Cati were babysitting. Vivien had come along when Cati said they were going to watch the Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. They had shown up early and started the movie.

"Yeah, okay, see you later," said Cadance dismissively, without averting her eyes. Jen rolled her eyes and went out the front door.

They were watching the movie contently when the front door opened. "Hello, Jen! Do you have any food?" called out Sirius's voice. He was promptly shushed by five people. A second later, he rounded the corner into the living room, with Wendy right behind.

"Jen went shopping," said Cati. "Have some popcorn." She held out the bowl, which Sirius took, as he and Wendy took a seat on the love seat. In the movie, the troops were gathering at Dunharrow, preparing for war and Aragorn was dreaming about Arwen and the Dimholt Road.

"That's the ticket," said Sirius. "What are we watching?"

"Lord of the Rings," answered Abby.

"Oh, excellent," said Sirius. "I'm going to get a drink. Anyone else want anything?" Collectively, without looking away from the TV, Cadance, Cati, Vivien, Abby and Fred pointed at the coffee table where there were 5 glasses of lemonade. Sirius hopped up and went to the kitchen as everyone else continued watching.

Dramatic music. "_Anduril, Flame of the West. Forged from the shards of Narsil_." More dramatic music.

"Now, why do they insist on naming their swords?" asked Cati.

"I don't know," answered Cadance, shaking her head. "Maybe it's a guy thing."

"Maybe," said Cati. She turned to Sirius, who was just coming back in with two glasses of lemonade for him and Wendy. "Do you have a name for you wand?"

"Sure do!" said Sirius happily. "I call him 'the Little Major.'"

Wendy's brow furrowed in confusion and she looked at him strangely. Then she rolled her eyes. "She meant your _actual_ wand!" she exclaimed.

Cadance and Cati stared at him in horror, while Vivien, Abby, and Fred turned around and looked at him in confusion.

"What?" asked Sirius. They all went back to watching the movie.

After a while, they reached the point where a nearly-dead Faramir returns to Minas Tirith and Denethor starts freaking out. He looked over the edge of the city and sees legions of orcs and bad guys forming outside the gate getting ready to attack and freaks out some more.

"You know," said Cati. "If I was ever on, say, the Astronomy Tower and looked out and saw hundreds of thousands of Death Eaters like that… eff that, I quit."

"Seriously?" asked Cadance. "I've never known you to back away from a challenge."

"That's just too many Death Eaters," said Cati.

"You don't think you can take 500,000 Death Eaters?" asked Cadance.

"No, that's too many Death Eaters," repeated Cati, shaking her head.

"What's your limit?" asked Sirius.

"Like… 100,000," said Cati. She paused. "Maybe 200,000 if Cadance is there."

"What if you had rum?" asked Cadance.

"Maybe 300,000."

The movie continued. Battles ensue. Theoden and his lads from Rohan show up and join in. Aragorn and the Army of the Dead show up. The ass-kicking begins.

"Hey, we could really use an Army of the Dead like that," said Cati. "I think it would really work to our advantage."

"We can look into it," said Cadance. Vivien shushed them, and the movie-watching continued in silence for a while until all those remaining marched on the Black Gates to distract Sauron. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Merry, Pippin, and Eomer rode up to the gate.

"What are they going to do? Knock on the door?" asked Cadance.

"_Let the Lord of the Black Lands come forth_!"

"How is it that up until this point, through all 3 movies, that dude is British, but suddenly he puts on his King-pants and he's Scottish?" asked Cati.

"Can you two EVER shut up?" asked Sirius.

Cadance and Cati looked at each other then back at Sirius. "No," they said together.

"We can barely go through 20 minutes of this movie without you two making comments and… WHOA WHAT IS THAT?!"

Sauron's emissary had come out to taunt the good guys. Gandalf was telling him to tell Sauron to leave, as if he would listen to that.

"That is the grossest thing I have ever seen," said Wendy.

"I'd take Voldemort's creepy red eyes and no nose over that any day," said Cadance.

Aragorn cuts of bad guy's head. Frodo and Sam and Gollum fight for ring. Battle continues.

"Wow, they are kinda kicking ass even though they're outnumbered," said Cati. "We should really take notes."

"Yeah, these are all things we can work on," said Cadance.

Just then the door opened. "I'm home!" called out Jen. She walked in with a bunch of packages. "Movie not over yet?"

"Just about," answered Cadance. Jen ran upstairs and put her packages away, then came back down just as the movie was ending.

"Did you get all your shopping done?" asked Wendy.

"A bit," said Jen. "Ginny and I ran down to the village, but we really do need to go to Diagon Alley. Are we all still going tomorrow?"

"Oh, I think so," said Wendy. Cati nodded. They looked at Cadance.

"What?" asked Cadance.

"Diagon Alley," said Jen.

"What about it?" asked Cadance.

"Are you coming?" asked Jen.

"What are you talking about?" asked Cadance.

"Cadance," said Jen exasperatedly.

"Do you remember the Order meeting last week?" asked Cati, stepping in. "When you and I were playing hangman with Godric?"

"Yeah," said Cadance. "And that dead guy knows some big words."

"Right, well, while you were trying to figure out the word _cognoscente_, Arthur was saying that he'd rather Christmas shopping at Diagon Alley was done in larger groups because it's been a bit dodgy down there lately and it was decided that a bunch of us were going to go tomorrow," explained Cati.

"Yeah, I still don't think _cognoscente _should count," said Cadance. Jen threw her arms up in frustration. "I mean, I think it's an Italian word. That's against the rules."

"It is an Italian word, but it's common in the English language," said Sirius. "A cognoscente is an expert at something." They all stared at him incredulously. "Yeah, that's right, I know stuff!"

"So are you coming or not?" asked Jen, turning back to Cadance.

"Oh, do I have to?" asked Cadance. "I just don't want to."

"Oh come on!" exclaimed Jen. "The whole family is going! Arthur and Molly are coming! You don't go anywhere anymore!"

"Hey, I'm _here_, aren't I?" asked Cadance.

"Name one place you've gone in the last six months that wasn't in Godric's Hollow," said Jen, staring pointedly at her.

"I was in Kent two days ago," said Cadance matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, because _Death Eaters_ were attacking it!" countered Jen.

"Okay, I went to the Ministry," said Cadance.

"Because Death Eaters were attacking _somewhere_!"

"This summer, I went _all over_ the place," said Cadance.

"Undercover as… A DEATH EATER!"

"And you wonder why I don't like to leave the castle!" exclaimed Cadance.

"You're coming with us," said Jen with an air of finality. "You're going to have a nice Death Eater-free day."

"I'm having a nice Death Eater-free day right now," argued Cadance.

"You're going," said Jen, looking at her watch. "Is anyone hungry? Who wants a late lunch?" She stalked off to the kitchen to prepare food.

"Freddy, put in a new movie," said Cadance, settling back on the couch. Fred started perusing a large pile of movies next to the TV.

"Cadance, you know, Jen has a point," said Cati. "A nice relaxing day out with the family could be a good thing. Godric, Rowena and Helena are going to watch the younger kids and when have you ever _not_ had a good time in Diagon Alley?"

"Off the top of my head," said Cadance, "how about the time my ex-boyfriend kidnapped a little girl then murdered her before my very eyes?"

Vivien, Abby and Joseph, who were deciding on a movie, all turned to stare at her with wide eyes.

"How have we _ever_ gotten you to leave Hogwarts?" asked Sirius, shaking his head.

"Oh, Hogwarts… the place where earlier this year two of my students tried to kill me using a product from my brother-in-law's own joke shop. The place where I watched Voldemort kill Drew Nuperson. The place where Salazar Slytherin killed my ancestor-slash-past-life Katherine. The place where Peter Pettigrew stabbed me with a friggin' sword, Death Eaters killed my 3 cousins, I found out that Bob Reynolds was a Death Eater as he forced my own husband to use the Cruciatus curse on me, and Voldemort killed my uncle as he tried to protect me, all on the same night 20 years ago. Right, how could you possibly have convinced me to leave there to come here to my childhood home, where I found out my parents died and where a demon killed my brother-in-law a few years ago."

"Well, thank you, Ebenezer Scrooge," said Cati. She wound up and hit her with a pillow. "What are you trying to bum us out for?!"

"Yeah, seriously, look at your nieces and nephew's faces!" exclaimed Sirius, pointing at the kids who were looking at Cadance with faint horror.

"What the hell is your problem? You're like that guy in _Santa Claus is Coming to Town_ who outlaws toys," said Cati. "I kind of want to curl up in a ball and cry now."

"Are you out of your freaking mind?!" threw in Wendy.

"STOP YELLING AT AUNT CADANCE! SHE'S SAD!" exclaimed Fred, running up to Cadance and climbing into her lap. She put her arms around her nephew as he buried his head in her shoulder.

"What the hell is going on in here?!" screamed Jen as she came in from the kitchen, with a plate of sandwiches.

"Aunt Cadance is sad," said Freddy, his lower lip sticking out. Cadance heaved a sigh and scooped him up and carried him to the kitchen. Jen followed.

Cadance sat her nephew down on the kitchen table, and then took a seat in the chair in front of him. "Fred, why do you think Aunt Cadance is sad?" asked Jen, coming to stand by her sister.

"SHE'S BUMMING EVERYONE OUT!" exclaimed Cati from the living room.

"THANKS, CATI, WE'VE GOT THIS! WATCH YOUR DAMN MOVIE!" shouted Jen.

"There is so much _shouting_ in this house today," said Cadance, shaking her head.

"Ooh! _The Dark Knight!_" exclaimed Cati, excitedly.

Jen's eyes widened. "NO NO NO!" she exclaimed stalking out of the kitchen. Cadance and Freddy heard her in the living room. "I don't need you getting any bright ideas! Jumping off of buildings, flying around at night… you don't need that kind of inspiration. Put in a Christmas movie."

"Freddy," began Cadance, talking over the sound of Cati and Jen bickering from the living room. "I'm _not_ sad. I just sometimes don't think before I speak."

"But all that bad stuff happened and you got stabbed and everyone's DEAD!" exclaimed Fred.

"Yes, well…" said Cadance, trailing off. "It's not all bad. Plenty of good stuff happened, too. I may have lost one family, but I've found another."

"Us?" asked Freddy, pointing to himself.

"Absolutely," said Cadance, nodding. "Sometimes, I just need to be reminded of the good stuff. I'm going to try to remember better. This time of the year, especially."

"Promise you're not sad?" asked Freddy, holding out his pinky.

"I promise," said Cadance, locking pinkies with him. "Come on, let's go watch a movie." She grabbed his hand to help him hop off the table and they walked into the other room.

There were a few new faces in the living room. Remus had come over from next door, and Frank the boogieman had come up from the basement. Both were talking with Jen about the noise level in the house.

"Honestly, Jen, I could hear the commotion from next door," Remus was saying.

"Yeah, and I was downstairs and I could _feel_ the negativity seeping through the floor," threw in Frank.

"Frank, you're a boogieman," said Jen, exasperatedly. "You're _made_ from negativity. _You're welcome_."

"Yeah, I feel heavier," said Frank, putting his hands on his stomach.

Suddenly they heard the sound of a major chord coming from the dining room. They looked over at the door, which was usually closed tight, and saw that it stood slightly ajar. "Cati," said Cadance, looking around the living room and realizing she wasn't there. A smile crossed Cadance's face as the sound of _I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day_ floating from the dining room piano.

They all made their way to the dining room to see Abby sitting at the piano with Cati, who was helping her play. Everyone entered the room, their moods visibly uplifted. Cadance hung in the doorway. She felt Remus at her shoulder.

"Do you still hate bells?" he asked quietly, with the memory of last Christmas hanging between them. "_And in despair, I bowed my head. 'There is no peace on earth,' I said_," said Remus, using the same quote from the song that she had used last year, in rhythm with the music.

"_The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, with Peace on Earth, Good Will to Men_," finished Cadance, with words from another verse.

"Good to see you're in better spirits this Christmas," said Remus, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Cadance paused, then said, "Things could be worse."


	32. Not Killed by Drapes

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that you recognize as someone else's.

A/N: Since it's been a while now since the last Harry Potter book came out, and this little world I created after the 4th one came out is no longer applicable, I'm going to be making references to the 5th, 6th, and 7th Harry Potter books in the rest of this story, for your amusement.

Review!

* * *

Jen stood in her foyer, glaring at her front door, tapping her foot impatiently. Her traveling cloak was draped over one arm.

"Honey?" called George, craning his neck to see her from where he sat on the couch in the living room. "That's not going to make them get here any faster."

She shot a look at him, then focused back on the door. "I've seen Cadance get that look on her face," said Sirius to Remus. "Usually something blows up afterwards."

Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, James, Molly, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Remus, Sirius, and Wendy had gathered in Jen and George's living room, waiting to head to Diagon Alley for the family shopping trip. Cadance, Charlie, Bill and Cati were running late. Melinda, Chris, and Wyatt were in San Francisco, visiting Chris and Wyatt's family, but they were due back later that day.

"They're only 15 minutes late," said George to Jen. "Come sit down."

While James and Molly were joining them on the shopping trip, the four youngest Weasley grandchildren were staying behind with Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. They were in the kitchen with them right now, playing exploding snap.

Just then the door opened and the four they were waiting on walked in. "It's about time!" shouted Jen at them as they were barely through the front door.

"We _would_ have been on time, but Cadance and Cati held us up," said Bill, rolling his eyes, as they all went into living room. Everyone else started getting to their feet, in preparation to leave.

"What took so long?" asked Sirius.

"We had to get ready," said Cati, pulling her robes back to reveal a knife and several pouches attached to her belt. "We're low on supplies."

"Are you serious right now?" asked George, pointing to her belt. "We're going _shopping_."

"What? Arthur said that Diagon Alley wasn't safe anymore!" said Cadance defensively.

"We're going to have a nice Death Eater-free day, remember?" said Jen emphatically. "If you two do anything stupid to mess that up…."

"Does it just have to be something stupid regarding Death Eaters?" asked Sirius. "Or will any stupid thing do?"

* * *

Because everyone going was able to Apparate, it took only a few more minutes before they were all congregating inside the Leaky Cauldron. Molly and James, newest at it, had wound up outside the bar instead of in it, but luckily they were close enough to the entrance that the muggles took no more notice of them than they did of the door.

Diagon Alley was not as crowded as it should be right before Christmas. The patrons hurried from shop to shop with their heads down, not making eye contact. A few whispered to their companions, stealing glances at the group. A light snow was falling and many people had their hoods up to protect their faces from the wind.

"Wow, you weren't kidding when you said it got dodgy down here," said Cati to Arthur, glancing around at the home-made stands that had sprung up, manned by unscrupulous looking characters, many of whom started to disappear or fade back into the shadows at the sight of the Minister and so many Aurors, including the Head Auror, walking down the street towards them.

"You're not on duty," Ginny reminded Harry, as he turned to a man selling amulets, presumably to chastise him.

"We're never really off-duty," said Mr. Weasley, looking disapprovingly at another stand.

"Prioritize," said Bill. "Christmas shop with you family today, and when you get back to the office on Monday, you can look into cleaning up Diagon Alley."

"Why is Christmas shopping a priority?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"Because if Jen gets any angrier, it will be a bigger crises than some jerks preying on the fear of others," said Bill. Jen shot him a look and he ducked behind Charlie.

Cadance turned to Cati. "We should really go stock up on Death-Eater-and-demon fighting supplies," she said. "We're almost out of knives. I don't know where they all end up."

"Oh, they end up in demons," said Cati, nodding, as they started to break away from the group.

"Hey! This is the time for _Christmas shopping_," said Jen emphatically. "This is not the time for _that kind of shopping_."

"Oh, okay," said Cadance. She paused. "Hey, you know what you can get me for Christmas?"

"Let's go to the bookstore, dear," said Mrs. Weasley, catching Jen by the shoulder and leading her to Flourish and Blotts.

"Alright, Weasleys, we'll split up and meet at the Leaky Cauldron at 1:30 for lunch," said Mr. Weasley.

"Great. We're going to go to a store where they sell pointy things," said Cati, grabbing Cadance's arm and dragging her off in another direction.

Everyone split up and started going off to get their shopping done. Bill, Charlie, Harry, Ron and George found themselves standing where they were. "So…" said Ron, trailing off. "You guys wanna go to one store and get all our shopping done and then find a place that sells soft pretzels?"

* * *

"James, I don't know about this," Molly whispered to her cousin.

"Come on, aren't you a little bit curious?" asked James, looking around to make sure nobody was watching them. They were hovering near the entrance to Knockturn Alley.

"Sure, I am, but if we get caught…" began Molly, but James cut her off.

"Molly, we're 17-years-old. We're adults," said James, heading down the alley. Molly hesitated a second then followed with a look of resolve on her face.

If they thought the streets of Diagon Alley were crowded with unscrupulous-looking sales people, it was nothing compared to Knockturn Alley.

"Such a pretty little girl," hissed one hunch-backed old woman, with her hood up, appearing at Molly's shoulder. "Would the pretty little girl like a pretty little trinket to protect her from wicked enchantments?"

"Come on," said James, grabbing her under the elbow and shifting her to his other side, putting himself in between her and the old woman.

"Where to first?" asked Molly, to show that she was still game.

They looked around, taking in all the shops. "There," said James, pointing to their right.

A dingy little pub stood sandwiched in between an apothecary and a shop with animal skulls in the window. "The Bloated Toad," said Molly, reading the sign. "Alright, lets go."

They walked in. A knife was jammed into the door. James and Molly exchanged a look as they closed the door and noticed it.

On the wall opposite the door was the bar. They went to take a seat there, since all of the tables were full. The bartender made his way over and stood in front of them, not making eye contact. James and Molly took this as a sign that they were supposed to order.

"Two firewhiskies," said James ordering for them. The bartender went off to fill their order and James and Molly looked around the bar.

"Viv's going to be jealous," said James. "She's been trying to sneak off to Knockturn Alley for years and she's stuck at home playing Exploding Snap."

Molly snorted. "Are you kidding me? She and Godric and Rowena were just waiting for everyone to leave so they could play poker. Apparently Helga took all their money last week and they're trying to win it back."

"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" interrupted a voice from behind them. They turned around on their bar stools to see three black-cloaked figures had walked up to them. Their hoods were up, and their faces in shadow.

"Death Eaters," whispered Molly.

"Looks like we've found some lost children," said the one on the right. "They look familiar, don't they?"

"Looks like some of the Minister's grandchildren," said the one on the left. "But what are they doing all alone? Unprotected?"

"Well, they're hardly children," said the one in the middle. He reached out and touched Molly's hair. She flinched. James hopped off his stool and slid in front of her, knocking the man's hand away, and drawing his wand. Molly drew her wand and pointed it at the man over her cousin's shoulder.

"Let's go, Molly," said James, reaching behind him and grabbing her arm. She slipped off her stool and stayed close to him. "They can't do anything to us here."

"You're out of the safe zone here, kid," said the one in the middle, pulling a mask out of his robes and putting it on his face. The other two did the same. "You're in our territory now. Nobody's going to help you." The young wizard and witch looked around and sure enough, a table full of demons in the corner were getting to their feet and leering at them. Two wizards and a witch, at another table, were doing the same. Everyone else was ignoring the disturbance, including the bartender.

"Now, drop your wands," said Death Eater in the middle, pointing his wand in James' face. "You're coming with—" He stopped abruptly and a strange, pained look crossed his face. He fell forward suddenly, landing at James and Molly's feet, a knife in his back. The Death Eaters and demons turned around, and through the gap between the two out front, where the now-dead Death Eater had stood, James and Molly could see Cadance and Cati standing in the doorway wands drawn, looking angry.

With the focus on Cadance and Cati, Molly and James lost no time in stunning two Death Eaters out front and two of the other wizards from the other table, before diving out of the way as one of the demons turned on them. Cadance and Cati, meanwhile, were engaging with the demons.

James and Molly crawled under the bar until they reached the table that was occupied by the wizards they had stunned. The witch was about to fire a spell at Cadance. James hopped to his feet and pushed the table into the witch, causing her spell to go awry. She turned her attention back on the two younger adversaries.

Before she could cast a spell, however, another demon, who looked like a large human with dark, exotic looking skin, that was sitting at the table next to them got up and brought his fist down, hard, on the top of the witch's head, knocking her unconscious. His two companions, who looked similar to him, stood up and flanked him, as they turned to face the demons fighting Cadance and Cati, while James and Molly exchanged a confused glance.

The demon who had taken out the witch sent a fireball at one of the three remaining demons, who promptly caught fire and was reduced to a pile of ashes before their very eyes. The other two demons stopped fighting to glance at their attacker, and then disappeared in a wisp of smoke.

"James. Molly," called Cadance, her face stony. They scooted out from behind the demons and went to stand before their aunts.

"Are you alright?" asked Cati. They nodded, avoiding eye contact.

Cadance and Cati turned to the demons who had stepped in to help, as the approached them. The one who had intervened first was clearly the leader and he reached Cadance and Cati first. "Thank you," said Cati, sincerely. The demon reached past her and pulled the knife out of the door.

"You left your calling card," he said in a very deep voice. He handed it to Cati. "I got your message."

"Cadance, these are the Scorpion demons. This is Brutus, their leader," said Cati, passing the knife to her. She put it in her belt. "They wanted to kill Melinda this summer while you were gone."

"They what?" asked Cadance angrily.

"I took care of it," hissed Cati.

Cadance eyed the lead demon warily. He nodded once at her. Cadance and Cati shifted their focus back to their nephew and niece, who finally met the gaze of their aunts.

"Molly didn't want to come," said James, speaking up. "It was my idea. I had to talk her into it."

"I could have said no," said Molly.

"May I inquire as to what you were thinking?" asked Cadance, quietly. The disappointment was apparent in her voice.

"We were thinking… that we're adults now," said James.

"You've not behaved like it," said Cadance.

"And it's pretty bad when you have _Cadance and I_ commenting on your maturity level," said Cati.

"Cati," hissed Cadance.

"How did you find us?" asked Molly.

"Those Death Eaters followed you here, and _we _followed _them_," said Cati. "I think its safe to say that you two would have been accosted whether or not you snuck away to Knockturn Alley."

"But did you have to make it easier for them?" asked Cadance.

"They followed us?" asked James.

"Yes, presumably to attack you when they had a chance," said Cati, casually.

"How long were they behind us?" asked Molly.

"Well, we saw them follow you from Quality Quidditch Supplies to the menagerie, then to here, so sometime before that," said Cati. "There were more of them. Two stayed out front to guard the entrance. We took them out before we came in. That's what took us so long."

Cadance looked down at her watch. "We need to be going," she said. "We have to meet everyone at the Leaky Cauldron any minute now."

"What about them?" asked James, pointing to the Death Eaters, four stunned, one knocked unconscious, and one dead.

"We can tie up the live ones," said Brutus, speaking up. "You can send someone to collect them."

"Thank you. We'll contact the Ministry as soon as we get to the Leaky Cauldron," said Cadance. She turned to James and Molly. "Come on. It's time to leave." She and Cati ushered their young niece and nephew out the door in front of them. Cati hung back to shake hands with Brutus.

"You know where to find us," said Brutus, before Cati slipped out the door as well.

"Aunt Cadance. Aunt Cati," said James. "We are _so, so _sorry." Molly nodded in agreement. Cadance took a deep breath and her face softened.

"We know you are," said Cadance. She gestured down the street, indicating that they should keep moving back towards Diagon Alley.

"Those demons?" asked Molly, as they started walking. "They helped."

"Demons are creatures of opportunity," said Cadance. "They'll align themselves with whoever they perceive to have the upper-hand, or whoever will be more likely to kill them if they do not. Obviously, the Scorpions think that Cati is more likely to vanquish them than the Death Eaters. They stepped in to help because they were afraid of her."

"Voldemort looks down on demons," said Cati. "He sees their magic as inferior, like House Elves, or vampires, or werewolves. The demons that join Voldemort only do so because they think they have no other choice. They'd avoid him if they could."

They were just turning into Diagon Alley now and they were running a bit late to meet everyone. By the time they reached the Leaky Cauldron, they were 15 minutes late.

"Is this going to be a habit with you guys?" asked Jen as they walked in the door. Everyone was congregated in the front room. Ron and George were helping the bartender push some tables together for lunch. "Where have you been?"

"We took out some Death Eaters in Knockturn Alley," said Cadance.

"You two were in Knockturn Alley?" asked Ginny angrily, looking to James and Molly.

"They were with us," said Cadance, speaking up before James or Molly could. This seemed to pacify Ginny a little. Molly and James shifted guiltily. Cadance shot them a look.

"What were you doing in Knockturn Alley?" asked Charlie, eyeing her suspiciously, which was understandable considering he knew that all the ideas that Cadance and Cati ever had that required a trip to Knockturn Alley had not ended well for any of them.

"Chill, Charlie, we weren't buying anything," said Cati, rolling her eyes. "We followed the Death Eaters."

"Yeah, that's better," said Bill sarcastically.

Just then the door opened and Brutus walked in, holding the arm of the young female Death Eater that he had knocked out earlier. She looked quite surly. He walked up to Cadance and Cati, pushing the girl in front of him. "She woke up and was quite talkative," said Brutus, without preamble. "I thought you might like to hear what she has to say."

"Ah, Ms. Smythe," said Cadance, eyeing the Death Eater. She was a few years older than Melinda, and Cadance had taught her at Hogwarts. She was one of the ones that had been broken out of Azkaban earlier that year.

"Hey, isn't he a Scorpion demon?" interrupted Harry, peering at Brutus intently.

"Yeah, sorry, this is Brutus," said Cati, pointing at him. "He's on our side."

"Didn't he want Melinda dead earlier this year?" asked Harry skeptically.

"Yeah, he's sorry," said Cati.

"Let's just put it this way," said James, stepping in. He pointed at Brutus. "More scared of Aunt Cati than he is of Voldemort."

Bill leaned forward in between Cadance and Cati and held out his hand to Brutus. "Welcome to the family," he said with a smile, as they shook hands. Cati smacked Bill's arm and scowled at him.

"Is there something you'd like to say to us?" asked Cadance, turning to Smythe, who was still being held firmly by Brutus. She was scowling. Cadance matched her expression.

"I want a deal," she hissed. "I'll tell you why we were sent here, but I want to go free."

"You're not going free," said Harry, stepping forward and shaking his head.

"Then I'm not telling you anything," she said obstinately. "And you'll be sorry."

Cadance kicked a chair over to Brutus and he forced her into it. Cadance flicked her wand casually and Smythe was bound to the chair. "You're not very intelligent," said Cadance, shaking her head. She leaned in close and said in a low, threatening voice. "Those other Death Eaters heard you telling Brutus that you wanted to talk to us. An entire bar full of people, most of whom are more likely to be on Voldemort's side than on ours, heard you say that. You want us to let you go? Where are you going to go? Lord Voldemort does not forgive; Lord Voldemort does not forget. He will find you and he will kill you. We are your only chance."

Smythe glared murderously at Cadance, who stared her down. Smythe broke first. "We were supposed to follow the young ones and attack them," she hissed. "Get them away from you, so that you'd be occupied with looking for them."

"Wait a second," interrupted Ginny. "Are you talking about James and Molly?"

"Yeah, we were supposed to follow them," said Smythe.

"You two said that _you_ followed the Death Eaters," said Hermione, turning to Cadance and Cati. They exchanged a glance.

"Mom, the Death Eaters followed James and I. Aunt Cadance and Aunt Cati saw and showed up to save us," confessed Molly. Cadance and Cati winced and slapped their foreheads.

"You two said that they came with you to Knockturn Alley!" screamed Ginny at Cadance and Cati.

"Actually," said Cadance holding up one finger and recoiling a bit, "I believe I said that _we were there_, which _is_ true."

"We'll discuss this when we get home," said Harry angrily. "All four of you will be punished."

"You can't punish us!" exclaimed Cati.

"Uh, yeah I can; it's in your contract," said Harry.

"Enough!" exclaimed Mr. Weasley, stepping forward. "The next person who speaks without permission _does not_ get pie after Christmas dinner. I mean it!" He looked around as if challenging someone to talk. Nobody did. "Continue Ms. Smythe."

"We were supposed to follow the little ones and attack them to keep you occupied with the search," said Smythe.

"Distract us from what?" asked Mr. Weasley.

"A jailbreak," said Smythe.

Mr. Weasley turned back to his family, with wide eyes. "Since we lost Azkaban, we've been locking up prisoners in the Department of Mysteries," he said, quickly. They all stared at him. After a beat, Mr. Weasley rolled his eyes. "I give you all permission to talk!"

"They're taking advantage of the fact that the Ministry is less-crowded on the weekends," threw in Harry.

"I think this is the first weekend in 6 years that we've all had off; when none of us are in the office," said Ron.

"They knew that we requested off for this shopping trip," said Cadance. "We have to get to the Ministry."

"Only Harry and Arthur have clearance for Apparation when not on-duty," said Remus, as everyone started putting on their traveling cloaks. "The rest of us will have to use the visitor's entrance. It's only about six blocks away."

"We'll meet you there," said Mr. Weasley, turning on his heel and Apparating out. Harry nodded and did the same.

"Brutus, you take her back with the others and wait for someone to come for them," ordered Cadance, before turning towards the exit that led to muggle London.

Meanwhile, half of the family was already out of the door and was starting down the street, getting looks from the muggles who were doing their Christmas shopping in London. "We're Christmas carolers!" exclaimed Sirius at a lady who looked at his strange clothes as some of them stopped for oncoming traffic.

Everyone reached the visitor's entrance to the Ministry, which was as ignored by muggles as the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron. Ron, Hermione, Jen, Fred and Remus had already crowded into the phone booth and Remus appeared to be fighting with the disembodied voice. He was holding the receiver to his ear and shouting.

"WE ARE HERE BECAUSE DEATH EATERS ARE GOING TO ATTACK! CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND ME!?" he shouted.

There was a pause, then the female voice echoed through the phone booth, loud enough that those outside the phone booth could hear it, too. "_I'm sorry, sir, but the Ministry is not open on the weekends_," it said melodically. "_The reason you have presented is not a valid reason for entry after hours. Have a nice day!_" There was an audible click.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM, LADY!?" exclaimed Remus. Ron, with some difficulty, took the phone from Remus as he raised it over his head, apparently about to bang it against the side of the phone booth.

"It's a recording, Remus, it's not a real person!" exclaimed Ron. He hung it up then quickly picked it back up again and held it to his ear.

"_Good afternoon. I'm sorry, but the Ministry of Magic is closed for the weekend. If you are an employee seeking entry for a work-related reason, please press 1_." Ron punched the number, hard. "_Please state your name and your reason visiting after hours, and your admittance status will be reviewed."_

"This is Ron Weasley. I, er, left my wife's birthday present on my desk and I have to pick it up," said Ron.

There was a pause and then the voice said. "_Request granted. Good luck, Mr. Weasley_." Then, suddenly, the five in the phone booth began to sink out of sight.

"We'll meet you in the lobby," said Remus, as they disappeared. As soon as they were out of sight, Sirius stepped inside and picked up the phone as Mrs. Weasley, Cadance, Cati, Bill, and Charlie crammed in behind him.

_"Good afternoon. I'm sorry but the Ministry of Magic is closed for the weekend. If you are an employee seeking entry for a work-related reason, please press 1."_

"Bill, your elbow is in my side!" shouted Cadance.

"_Please state your name and your reason for visiting after hours, and your admittance status will be reviewed._"

"My back is itchy!" exclaimed Cati. "Something's tickling it. What is that?"

"Stop moving!" shouted Charlie.

"_I'm sorry, sir, but the Ministry is not open on the weekends. The reason you have presented is not a valid reason for entry after hours. Have a nice day!_" Click.

"Ah! What's poking me!" exclaimed Bill.

"OI! I'M ON THE PHONE!" exclaimed Sirius, placing the phone on the cradle and picking it back up.

"Come on, guys!" shouted Ginny, stomping her foot, impatiently.

"_Good afternoon. I'm sorry, but the Ministry of Magic is closed for the weekend. If you are an employee seeking entry for a work-related reason, please press 1_."

"Hold them still," said Ginny, pointing at Cadance and Cati through the glass. They were shifting and fidgeting and it looked like people were going to start talking again. Bill and Charlie promptly grabbed their wives.

"_Please state your name and your reason for visiting after hours, and your admittance status will be reviewed_."

"This is Sirius Black and I have a page-a-day calendar on my desk and I want to rip off today's page, so I don't have to rip off a bunch when I come back on Monday," said Sirius.

"_Request granted. In the future, Mr. Black, try ripping off the pages for Saturday and Sunday when you leave on Friday. Have a nice day!_" They started to sink out of sight, leaving behind Ginny, Wendy, James and Molly.

They stepped into the lobby of the Ministry, to see Remus, Jen and Fred staring at the elevators. "Where are Ron and Hermione? Where are Harry and Arthur?" asked Sirius, as they climbed out of the phone booth. Remus pointed at the elevator door.

They stepped forward to see that someone had magically marked on the door "DEPARTMENT OF MYSTERIES."

"Harry left us a note," said Remus. "Ron and Hermione went to back them up. We waited for you."

"The Minister of Magic went running into a place where Death Eaters were attacking?! Is he insane?!" exclaimed Cadance. "We don't let Ministers do stuff like that! He could get killed! Setting aside the deep personal loss we would all feel, it would mean that we have to come up with A NEW MINISTER! We don't have time to break in a new Minister!"

Wendy, Ginny, James and Molly stepped out of the phone booth just then. "What's going on?" asked Ginny.

"_Your _husband—_our_ Head Auror—took _your_ father—_our_ fearless leader—off to fight Death Eaters, without fully knowing the situation or waiting for back-up!" exclaimed Cadance.

"What are we going to do now?" asked Ginny. "What's the plan?"

"Well, we pushed the button," said Remus, pointing to the lit "down" button on the wall. "But the bloody elevator is running slow." He jabbed the button a few more times.

"We've been trying to get maintenance on that for weeks," said Sirius, nodding at the elevator.

"I just don't see how the Wizarding World can depend on us to protect them when we can't even get from one floor to the next," said Remus, casually. Suddenly the elevator doors opened with a _ding_.

"Alright, we're going to have to take two trips," said Cadance. "Pile in."

"James, Molly, I want you to go back to Diagon Alley and use Floo Powder to go home," ordered Ginny, as they tried to slip into the elevator.

Immediately they started protesting. "Mom, come on!" exclaimed James.

"We're 17-years-old! We're of age!" exclaimed Molly.

"We are _two years_ younger than Melinda and Chris!" exclaimed James.

They turned to the rest of their family. Remus, Sirius, Wendy, Jen, George, and Mrs. Weasley were in the elevator. "I'm not weighing in on this. I lost this battle 20 years ago," said Mrs. Weasley, pushing the 'close door" button. "We'll meet you down there!" she said, as the doors closed.

There was a pause, then Cadance, reluctantly, said, "Ginny, they're young but they're _good_." Cati nodded in agreement, as she pushed the down button to call another elevator.

"You can't fight it anymore, Gin'. They're adults now," said Bill.

"It seems I'm out-voted on this," hissed Ginny.

"Ginny, we've been over this," said Cadance. "When you were their age, you were doing the exact same thing."

"It seemed different," said Ginny.

"Ask your mother, and she'll tell you its not," said Cadance.

The elevator door opened and they hurried in, slightly cramped. "Going down," said Cati, pushing the 'close door' button.

"Be prepared for anything when these doors open," said Cadance to James and Molly, pushing the button for the bottom floor, which housed the Department of Mysteries. "And if things get too intense, you get yourselves out, do you understand?" Molly and James nodded. "I mean it. If any of us tell you to leave, you better do it, and I don't want to hear a word of complaint."

"We promise," said Molly.

"Oh shit!" exclaimed Cati, smacking her hand to her forehead.

"What?" asked Bill.

"We forgot to grab that knife that you threw out of that Death Eaters back in Knockturn Alley," she said.

"See, this is why we have to keep buying them," rebuked Cadance.

"_You_ threw it!" argued Cati.

"Where are the ones that we just bought?" asked Cadance.

"Leaky Cauldron," said Cati. "We left everything there to run off and fight Death Eaters."

"Yeah, but why _did_ we buy the knives?" asked Cadance, pointedly.

"To fight Death Eaters," said Cati, grudgingly.

"Hey, none of that," said Charlie, to Cadance. "Do you remember what happened the _last time_ you brought a knife to fight Death Eaters at the Ministry?"

"Uh, I believe I killed three Death Eaters with it," said Cadance. Ginny clicked her tongue in disapproval. "Hey, they started it! And I didn't _bring_ that knife, I pulled it out of your brother's chest and used it to avenge his death."

There was silence for a few seconds in the elevator, as everyone remembered the last time Death Eaters had attacked the Ministry. Thinking of Percy's death reminded them of the stakes. Just then the elevator came to a stop and the same disembodied voice that had annoyed Remus and Sirius said, "Department of Mysteries," as the doors opened.

"Heads up," said Bill casually, as a spell flew into the newly-opened elevator, causing everyone to duck a little as they slipped out o the elevator and into the battle.

The Aurors who had been on duty upstairs were there, along with everyone from their group who had come down before them, as Cadance, Cati, Bill, Charlie, Ginny, James and Molly joined in. It appeared as if the Death Eaters had succeeded in breaking out their friends from the holding cells, and had been making their way to the elevators to escape when they ran into resistance. They were now trying to fight their way out.

The front room of the Department of Mysteries, where the elevators opened up, was much like the Auror Department. It was a sea of cubicles, where the employees worked. Through a door in the back were the holding cells, file rooms, and a maze of secret rooms.

It was in between the cubicles that the battle was taking place. Cadance noticed Moody expertly handling two very skilled Death Eaters at once, and realized that he must have been on duty when the attack started. She made her way over to him. "Never a dull day at the office, eh, Mad-Eye," she said conversationally, taking on one of his attackers.

"You don't need to sound so glib about it," barked Moody.

"I don't think I was going for glib," said Cadance. "I don't think I even know what it means." She found her opening and stunned the Death Eater, then turned to another one. "Have you seen Harry and Arthur?"

Moody stunned his Death Eater, then pointed off to their right. "Over there," he said.

"Let's keep an eye on our Minister," said Cadance. "Last time Death Eaters infiltrated the Ministry, we lost one." Moody nodded, then stunned another Death Eater.

"Heads up, Cadance," came a voice from the side. Cadance turned and ducked, just as a spell flew over her head and McGonagall backed up next to her, fighting a Death Eater.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing here?" asked Cadance angrily. "Who's watching Hogwarts?"

"The alarm went off, so Severus, Bob and I came," said McGonagall, blocking a spell. "Don't worry, we left Albus and Merlin to look after it."

"Come on!" exclaimed Cadance, stamping her foot. "If you die, I have to be the Headmistress! Why is it that everyone who's in charge is being reckless today!?"

"Why is it that her Royal Highness of Recklessness is the one who keeps pointing that out?" asked Sirius, as he walked by in pursuit of a Death Eater.

"You'll pay for that one later," said Cadance, pointing her finger at him.

Just then, the elevator doors opened again. Cati and Ginny were nearest to them, and they whirled around, pointing their wands inside, but then lowered them as Melinda, Chris and Wyatt stepped out, wands drawn.

"Hey, here's a question," said Melinda, as they joined in the battle. "Why is it that while we're sitting at Aunt Jen's, watching my rather young cousins involved in a rather serious poker match with the Founders of Hogwarts, a demon who once wanted me dead showed up to drop off the shopping bags that my family had left at the Leaky Cauldron when they ran off to the Ministry to fight Death Eaters?"

"Because your family left shopping bags at the Leaky Cauldron when they ran off to the Ministry to fight Death Eaters," answered Cati.

"Cati, stop being glib," said Cadance.

"No, not quite right," said Moody. "That was more like nonchalance."

The Death Eaters had begun falling back to the rear door of the department. Only about 10 remained in the battle, the rest of them being incapacitated in some way.

"Is there any other way out of the Ministry?" asked Wendy, as four or five Death Eaters slipped through the back door.

"I don't think so, but this _is_ the Department of Mysteries," said Cadance. The rest of the Death Eaters were following their comrades.

Harry turned around to them and started shouting orders. "We've got them cornered. If too many people go after them, it'll be too confusing. I'll take the Aurors from the Order of the Phoenix and follow the Death Eaters further into the Department of Mysteries. I want the rest of you to stay here and move these Death Eaters into the holding cells. Let's go!"

"Bye, dear," said Cati, high-fiving Bill as she ran off to follow Harry.

"Stay close to your uncle Bill or your Uncle Charlie but, do NOT go near Uncle George," said Ginny, pointing at James and Molly.

"Hey!" exclaimed George.

"No, dear, she's right," called Jen over her shoulder, as she slipped through the door, which Harry was holding open. Ron, Hermione, Cadance, Cati, Melinda, Chris, Wyatt, Sirius, Remus, and Moody had already gone through.

"Let's go, Gin'!" exclaimed Harry, as she was the last one. As soon as she was past him, he closed the door. The room was large, and along the left and right walls there were filing cabinets. On the wall opposite, there was a door, which Harry had directed everyone through.

This room was even larger than the last and it had about 20 rows of filing cabinets that extended from floor to ceiling. There was another door on the other side of the room. Harry silently motioned half of them in one direction and the other half in the other, and they quickly and efficiently moved up and down the rows, to see if any Death Eaters had hid in there.

"Clear!" exclaimed Ron when he hit the end of one side.

"Same!" called Sirius from the other.

"Through there," said Harry, pointing at the other door, opposite the one they had come in, and they all headed for it.

Cadance was the last one through. What the hell?" she asked, looking around, once she got into the room.

First, this room was much smaller and almost every inch of it was covered with ornate mirrors of different sizes. Second, there were no doors, and when she turned around she noticed that the one she had come in through had disappeared. And finally, though Cadance was the last one through the door-that-was-not-there-anymore, only Jen, Wyatt, Ginny and Sirius were there with her.

"I freaking hate the Department of Mysteries," said Cadance. "Too many surprises." There was no response from anyone, and Cadance noticed that they were each staring curiously into a different mirror. Cadance focused in on one of the mirrors to see what was holding their attention, when she froze.

She could see herself in the mirror, but the room behind her was black in the mirror, though there was plenty of light in the room itself. And then suddenly, she could hear her own voice in her head, saying words that she knew she wasn't thinking.

"_You killed someone today._"

"I did it to save Molly and James," she said, countering the voice.

"_You don't even feel bad_."

"No, I don't."

"_Don't you see what you have become? What you've been for years? This isn't the first time you've killed someone. You brought that up yourself today. And THAT wasn't the first time you've committed murder."_

"Not murder," said Cadance, arguing with herself.

"_Call it what you need to, so you can sleep at night, but you know what it is. Your uncle never resorted to it. Never needed to. There's darkness in you. You can't hide it anymore. It's the same darkness that drew Katherine, your ancestor and past life, to Salazar Slytherin. That same desire for power is in you, and you're not afraid to kill to get it._"

"You're wrong."

"_How can I be wrong? I'm you. I'm your own thoughts. How can I be wrong about you?"_

She was snapped out of her reverie by a sharp bark. She whirled around, to find the source of the noise. Sirius, transformed into a dog, was in the middle of the room, barking his head off. Resorting to his Animagus form had helped when he needed to keep his head in Azkaban, so he did it again now. Cadance looked around and she noticed that both Jen and Ginny had their wands pointed at their reflections, but whatever they were trying had no effect. Clearly, magic had no effect on the mirrors. Wyatt was sneering at his reflection and his hands were balled into fists.

And she could still hear the voice—her own voice—in her head. _"You can run, but you can't hide, because you can't hide from yourself. You may be able to trick yourself into thinking you're not bad, but you won't be able to convince yourself that you're innocent."_

Cadance pointed her wand at her own reflection in the mirror, firing a spell at it. It hit the glass, but did nothing. Cadance looked around, then twirled her wand and a beaters' bat appeared floating midair. She grabbed, and swung it, hard, at the mirror. It shattered.

Suddenly, glass was raining down on all of them, as all of the mirrors shattered. Cadance, Jen, Ginny, and Wyatt threw their hands up to cover their head, and Sirius put his head on the floor and covered it with his paws.

"Everyone okay?" asked Cadance, turning to look at everyone. They nodded. Sirius picked himself up, shook the glass out of his fur, and then turned back into a human.

"What was that?" asked Jen, with a pained look on her face.

"The Department of Mysteries," said Cadance. "Stay on your toes."

Jen still looked upset and Sirius, the least shaken of all of them, grabbed her face and made her look at him. "What you heard… it wasn't true," he said, locking eyes with her. "It's just a trick of this place. You have to pull yourself together because we need you now." Jen took a deep breath and nodded. Sirius let go of her face and looked around and the other three. "The same goes for you." They nodded.

Just then, one of the largest mirrors swung out, and as it swung out, it turned into a door—the same door they had used to get into the room. They whirled around and pointed their wands in that direction, but lowered it as the rest of their group entered, with Cati out front.

Cati did not look amused. She looked at the broken mirrors on the wall, the broken glass on the floor, then the bat in Cadance's hand. "That's nice!" said Cati, sarcastically. "What makes you think we need 7 years of bad luck?"

"Shut up, Cati," said Harry, pushing through. There wasn't enough room in the tiny space for all of them. "What happened here?"

"Um… the mirrors suck," said Cadance. "It's a long story, we really don't have time. Where did you guys end up?"

"Some big room with cuckoo clocks," said Harry with an eye roll. "It took us forever to find the door. It was hidden. How do we get out of here?"

"Do you think we would have stuck around to smash the mirrors if we knew how to get out of here?" asked Cadance.

"If the door turned into a mirror when we closed it, then one of these mirrors must swing out into a door as well," said Wyatt, speaking up.

"Probably here," said Ginny, grabbing onto the frame of the mirror directly across from the entrance to the room. It was nearly as large as a doorway. It gave way and turned into a door as she pulled it out.

"Do you think the Death Eaters are having as hard a time with this as we are?" asked Ron, as they started climbing through the frame into the next room.

"Probably," said Remus.

"Probably not," corrected Moody. "Augustus Rookwood was here. I took him out. He used to be an Unspeakable. He must have told them a thing or two about getting around down here."

"I'll take that, thank you very much," said Cati, pulling the bat out of Cadance's hand. She hit it against her palm twice before climbing through the frame herself.

"Not a good idea!" shouted Wyatt, pointing at Cati, as soon as she entered the room, which was large and round and had two other doors.

"Something you're going to have to deal with in this family," said Ron, patting his shoulder twice.

"I didn't marry into this family," said Wyatt. "I'm not related."

"That's what you think, mate," said Remus, throwing an arm around his shoulders.

"Which door, Harry?" asked Hermione. "Do we split up?"

Harry hesitated. If they split up, they'd be more vulnerable when they ran into the Death Eaters. Could they hold them off until the other half of their group reached them, without anyone getting hurt?

"We don't have time for this, Harry," said Cadance impatiently. "You need to make a decision now."

"We'll use our Sorceresses to communicate between the two groups," said Harry, looking at Cati, Cadance, Jen and Melinda. "We split."

"I've never been good with telepathic communication," said Jen, putting her hands up defensively.

"Me neither," said Melinda, nodding in agreement.

"Cadance and Cati can do it, if they're not too far away," said Sirius, pushing Cati towards Harry, who was on his way through the door on the left. Sirius grabbed Cadance's arm and dragged her through the other door, as everyone began to split up.

Cadance and Sirius were joined by Remus, Jen, Melinda, Chris, and Wyatt, while Harry and Cati were joined by Ginny, Ron, Hermione and Moody. Through the door on the right, Cadance and Sirius's group ran through three more rooms of filing cabinets.

In the third filing cabinet room, Cadance made them pause, before she opened the door into the next room. "Do you hear that?" asked Cadance, putting her hand up, to silence everyone. "Voices."

"We go on _three_," said Sirius quietly, one hand on the doorknob. "One…"

"Two," said Cadance.

"Three!" Sirius pulled the door open and it hit the wall with a bang as they rushed in, with their wands raised. The room they entered was round, with three other doors. The Death Eaters were crowded around the one on the far right, apparently trying to open it. It was clear they were disorganized.

Whoever had been leading them must have been taken out earlier in the battle, and whatever plan they had had was falling apart. Most of the Death Eaters bolted for one of the other doors in the room. "Call, Cati!" exclaimed Sirius, as they started firing spells at the retreating Death Eaters. "I'll cover you." He stepped in front of her, as a few of the Death Eaters started firing back.

Cadance focused on a spot on the wall and pictured Cati's face. "_Cati!"_ she screamed inside her head, projecting her thoughts. "_Cati!_"

Cati had been waiting for it. "_On our way_!" Cadance heard her voice in her head.

"They're coming," said Cadance, firing a spell over Sirius's shoulder. The Death Eaters had begun slipping through two of the other doors in the room, abandoning the 3rd door they had been trying to get open.

"Split again!" exclaimed Sirius, starting across the room as the last Death Eater slipped through one of the doors. As soon as he got close, a spell came flying, seemingly out of nowhere, and blasted him off his feet.

"There!" shouted Melinda, pointing at the third door.

"_Protego!_" Cadance shouted, pointing her wand in that direction. A shield charm erupted in front of them. "Follow the Death Eaters. I'll take care of our invisible friend."

Jen started to protest, but Sirius cut her off. "Melinda, Chris and Jen go left. Remus, Wyatt and I will go right," said Sirius, pointing at the doors.

Cadance quickly sent the message to Cati. "_They split again. Through the first two doors in the fourth room you come to from where we split_."

The left door was closest, so Jen, Melinda and Chris made it through quickly. Remus, Wyatt, and Sirius were about to go through the door on the right when Cadance was suddenly knocked backwards onto the floor, but not by a spell. She called out in surprise. The three wizards turned to look at her, just as she reached for her wand but was stopped as if someone had stomped on her hand. She called out in pain again.

"Help Cadance; we'll take the Death Eaters," said Remus, to Sirius, before darting through the door in pursuit of the Death Eaters. Wyatt was on his heels.

Sirius was already running towards Cadance. "_Homenum Revelio_!" he shouted. Suddenly, two Death Eaters—one witch and one wizard—appeared in the room. The wizard was standing by the third door, still trying to open it. The witch was standing over Cadance, who was still on the floor, with her foot pinning Cadance's wrist to the ground, and her wand in her face.

_"Brearley_," spat Cadance.

Sirius fired a spell at Matilda Brearley, before she could get her revenge on her former teacher. Her attention diverted, Brearley barely had time to duck out of the way. Cadance took advantage of the shift in balance to pull her wrist out from under Brearley's foot. She reached forward and wrapped the fingers of her other hand around her wand and pointed it up at Brearley's face. "_Expelliarmus_!" she shouted. Brearley was thrown backwards, her wand blasted out of her hand.

Sirius grabbed Cadance's hand and pulled her to her feet, both of them pointing their wands at Brearley.

"_Protego_!" shouted a voice from the side. A powerful shield charm erupted in front of Cadance and Sirius. They looked to where the other Death Eater had been. Sirius had ignored him in his rush to save Cadance. The door now stood open. "Matilda, let's go!"

Brearley retrieved her wand and ran through the door, just as Cadance and Sirius started to make their way around the shield. The other Death Eater lowered his wand, as he disappeared through the door himself, causing the shield to come down anyway. Cadance and Sirius were in pursuit, reaching the door just before it closed on them. They slid into the room.

This room was different from all the others they had been in. They had entered at the top of an amphitheater, which led down into a pit. In the middle of the pit was a stone dais, with a stone archway on it. A tattered curtain was hanging in the archway. This was the destination of the two Death Eaters, who were darting towards the dais, holding hands. Brearley's companion was muttering under his breath as they reached the archway. It glowed golden all of a sudden, and he and Brearley darted through it, and disappeared. Cadance and Sirius slid to a stop in front of it.

Cadance took a deep breath and prepared to follow, but Sirius grabbed her arm and stopped her. "No! It's dangerous!" exclaimed Sirius.

"It's a curtain!" argued Cadance.

Suddenly, the archway stopped glowing, and Cadance and Sirius somehow knew they could not follow the Death Eaters anymore. "I don't know why, but I just have a _very bad_ feeling about it," said Sirius, very gravely. "It's like I know that if I go through that curtain, I'll die, and I can't let you do it either."

"Unbelievable!" exclaimed Cadance, throwing her hands in the air. "Sirius Black, the fearless Auror, the elusive prisoner of Azkaban! Outwitted the Ministry, evaded Dementors, survived Voldemort… KILLED BY DRAPES!?"

"Come on, Remus and Wyatt are off following four or five Death Eaters by themselves," said Sirius, hitting her arm and darting back up the tiers of the amphitheater.

The door had closed behind them, and they found that they couldn't open it when the reached it. Sirius cursed under his breath, when he tried to open it with magic and it wouldn't work.

"It took our Death Eater friends a while to open it. It's not going to just open with _Alohamora, _Sirius," rebuked Cadance, rolling her eyes. Suddenly they heard someone on the other side of the door. They stiffened and looked at each other, then breathed a sigh of relief when the person spoke, and they recognized the voice.

"It's still locked," said Jen, presumably to whoever was with her. "Where else could they have gone?"

"Jen!" exclaimed Sirius and Cadance at the same time, pounding on the door.

"Cadance! Sirius!" exclaimed Jen. "Are you alright?"

"We're fine, the door is just locked. You need to go after Remus and Wyatt!" exclaimed Cadance.

"The fight's over! Everyone's fine!" shouted Jen. "I've got Wyatt with me now. Cati would have tried to contact you telepathically, but she's a little busy taunting the Death Eaters with her freedom."

Sirius looked at Cadance strangely. She shrugged. "She likes to do that," she said. She turned back to the door and said, loudly, "Go get Bill! He'll be able to get us out in a snap."

"Hold tight!" They heard the sounds of two sets of footsteps hurrying away.

Cadance heaved a sigh, and then she and Sirius sat next to the door, leaning their backs against the wall. After about 30 seconds of silence, Sirius said, "Is there anything you want to talk about?"

"No," said Cadance, looking at him strangely. "Why?"

Sirius paused. "When I turned into a dog, back into the mirror room, it broke my concentration from my mirror, which was my intention," he said. "Once I wasn't focused on myself, I was able to hear… everything else."

"You could hear the mirrors?" asked Cadance. "I thought it was just in my head."

"So did I, until I turned into a dog," said Sirius. "I don't know if you realize this, but you're the only one who _talked back_."

"Oh really?" asked Cadance.

"I just wanted to make sure that you weren't arguing with the voice because you were trying to convince _yourself_ of what you were saying," said Sirius. "You listen up, because I'm only going to say this once, Cadance Rose DiGenova Dumbledore Weasley. _You do not have an evil bone in your body_. Sometimes the right thing to do doesn't _feel_ like the right thing to do and that makes it harder. But you do what you have to do, not for yourself, but for others. Do you understand me?"

"Sure, Sirius. I get it. Thanks," said Cadance. She paused then said, "Out of curiosity, what did you hear when you looked in the mirrors?"

"That it's my fault that James and Lily are gone," said Sirius. "That I killed them."

"That's not true at all," said Cadance.

"Oh, it's absolutely absurd," said Sirius, very matter-of-factly. Cadance and Sirius both started chuckling.

After they had stopped, Cadance cleared her throat and then said, "I know you feel responsible for that, Sirius. You shouldn't. You did the best you could with the information you had. That's all any of us can do."

"I know," said Sirius, nodding.

Cadance paused again, then asked, "What about everyone else?"

"Ginny was beating herself up about letting James and Molly come. Wyatt was telling himself that his White Lighter powers should have been able to sense that something was wrong today. And Jen is concerned that she won't be able to protect her children; that she's not good enough, she's not strong enough, and no matter how hard she fights, they're doomed to die."

"No wonder she took it so hard," said Cadance, pensively.

"Yeah," said Sirius.

There was a pause, then Cadance said, "Thanks, Sirius… you know, for helping me out back there."

"Anytime, kid," said Sirius, punching her shoulder. "Overall, I'd call this a victory. All those Death Eaters came in and only two got out."

"We'd better ask an Unspeakable what that arch is," said Cadance. "Since the Death Eater's used it to escape." She paused, then a look of dawning his her face. "Together. They escaped _together_. They cast a disillusionment charm on themselves and let the others get rounded up, then they escaped _together_. He cast a shield charm so that she could escape, too. He could have let her go and gone through the door on his own, but he saved her."

"Looks like some Death Eaters are capable of loving someone besides Voldemort," said Sirius.

"That's a nice change of pace from some of the others," said Cadance. "Like your cousin Bellatrix. I'm _pretty sure_ she's having sex with Voldemort."

"Ew," said Sirius, his face screwed up in disgust. "You've got to be kidding."

"I _did_ spend most of the summer undercover," said Cadance. "I'm pretty sure I saw her right after they did it once, too. She came out of the room and her hair was all crazy…"

"No, it usually looks like that," interrupted Sirius.

"Still, we should probably take her out the next time we see her. We don't want a bunch of little Voldemort's running around," said Cadance.

"Eh, she's probably barren," said Sirius dismissively. Cadance snorted. "What? There's no way her uterus is hospitable."

Just then, the door swung open. "That was quick," said Sirius, as he got to his feet then offered Cadance a hand and pulled her to her feet.

Framed in the doorway was Major Frank Brown. He held up a large brass key. "Jen came to get Bill to open the door, but it tends to be quicker when you have the key," he said.

Jen pushed past him and came into the room. "What the hell?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips and looking around. "How'd you end up in here?"

"Followed two Death Eaters," said Cadance. "They disappeared through that arch." She pointed at it, and turned to Brown. "What the hell is that, Frank?"

"That's classified information, Cadance. You know I can't tell you," said Brown, shaking his head. Cadance took a threatening step towards him, and Brown jumped backwards. Sirius grabbed the back of Cadance's robes and rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Cadance, we'll just go tell Arthur and he'll make sure someone takes care of it," said Sirius, grabbing her by the arm. All four of them went back to the front room of the Department of Mysteries, where everyone else had returned. They were still moving Death Eaters to the holding cells.

Sirius and Brown went to where Mr. Weasley was standing with Harry and started explaining to them what had happened in hushed tones. Cadance and Jen went to stand with Charlie and Bill.

"Is Cati still taunting Death Eaters?" asked Cadance.

"Nah, she finished," said Bill. He pointed off to the right. Cati was standing in the aisle between two rows of cubicles, showing James and Molly some of the finer points of office bowling with a very large rubber band ball. She caught sight of Cadance and started heading back towards them.

Snape walked by, holding a younger Death Eater by the ear. "I hope that you're happy with your life choices, Mr. Auxeley," he was saying.

Cati crossed his path. "Hey, Uncle Sevie-poo," she said casually.

Snape stopped and turned to Auxeley, his face blank. "I want to switch sides," he said.

Cati shot him a disapproving look. "Not funny," she said. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, then skipped off to Cadance, Bill, and Charlie. Snape rolled his eyes then tugged on Auxeley's ear and pulled him off to the holding cells.

"Hey, Jen, what were you saying about having a nice Death Eater-free day?" asked Cati, putting her arm around Bill.

"Shut up, Cati," said Jen, rolling her eyes.


End file.
